


The Clan

by sugarloser



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: ALPHA LEE JOOHEON LMFAOOOAFOOF, Alpha Lee Jooheon, Gay, He is not a stripper in the story, I swear to God, Just kidding i put that tag cos its funny, M/M, Monsta X The Clan, Monsta X Theories, Stripper Lee Hoseok | Wonho, a little bit of gay with changkyun and hoseok, gay sometimes, monsta x - Freeform, monsta x au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:07:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 36,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22855981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugarloser/pseuds/sugarloser
Summary: Inspired off of the theories from The Clan albums and music videos, Monsta X have a new take in The Clan's alternate universe.
Relationships: Chae Hyungwon/Lee Minhyuk, Im Changkyun | I.M/Lee Hoseok | Wonho
Kudos: 17





	1. Beautiful

**Author's Note:**

> It's like a boa constrictor

Hands itching for life reached for sweltering nights of fires and havok, eyes long tainted with ugly sights were yearning for something beautiful. Beauty in the sense of freedom, was the collective thought of seven separate mines, beauty that blossomed in their hearts and made them feel free from the grotesque emotions they’d long since been contained by. Seven hearts, searching for the beauty of life. 

Seven kids had been friends since their first year of high school. They looked to each other anxiously as classes pass them by, forcing their wrists to spell out Korean characters. Desperate for beauty, but too scared to search for it, the kids waited until the day that somebody in their group stepped up- somebody stepped up and yanked the ugliness away from life, like opening curtains blocking a gray, sun deprived room. 

It started with Minhyuk. One night, he banged on Hoseok’s window- his neighborhood smelled of something disgusting, and he was feeling cramped waiting for Hoseok to wake up. Impatiently, the banging persisted, until a wild faced Hoseok appeared at the window.

“Minhyuk!” Hoseok, who could hear it through the thick glass window, was sure the yell woke everybody in the tiny home. Hurriedly, Hoseok opened the window. “What are you doing?” He frowned.

“Let’s go!” Minhyuk’s eyes shone with mischief. “We’ve got business to attend to!”

“It’s twelve am!” Hoseok pouted, and Minhyuk thought it was funny to see such a cute face on such a shredded guy. 

“Meeting starts soon!” Minhyuk sang. “Come on, get out of there. Is your sister asleep?”

“Yeah.” Hoseok nodded. He worried his lip, and looked around his room as though to check if Haeji really was asleep. “I can’t go tonight. Haeji’s gonna be all alone.”

“Haeji is fifteen.” Minhyuk sighed.

“I’m seventeen!” Hoseok brought his age into it too.

“She’s old enough to be alone!” Minhyuk urged. “She’ll call you if something’s wrong, right? Does Haeji have a phone? Hoseok, just come on!”

“Okay, okay!” Hoseok whined, and Minhyuk stepped back as Hoseok retreated back into his room. He emerged a minute later with jeans, a jacket and shoes. “It’s so cold… Where are we going?”

Minhyuk helped him out the window. “I told you like five times! It’s urgent we go. Be careful…”

“I’m okay.” Hoseok assured, and safely jumped from the window to the ground. Carefully, he closed the window, and pushed it shut for a solid minute before he heard it lock.

“That took one hour.” Minhyuk said, looking up to the moon. “The moon was in the middle of the sky when I got here. Now, it’s like, at the bottom.”

“Minhyuk!” Hoseok groaned. “Let’s go!”

“Oh yeah!” Minhyuk grinned, and took Hoseok’s hand before dragging him away.

At a faraway children’s playground, Minhyuk and Hoseok arrived, panting and red in the face. Upon their arrival, they found the rest of their friends, playing on slides or tangling themselves in the swings.

“Oh- Look, it’s about to start spinning!” Hyungwon shouted, standing straight up on a swing while the chains were wrapped tightly around him.

“Go Hyungwon!” Jooheon whistled, and their friends broke into a riot as the chains unraveled, getting progressively faster. 

“Hyungwon!” Hoseok cried in despair. “Get off of that! Hyungwon, you’re gonna die!”  
Throughout the commotion, Hyunwoo sat on the sidewalk, looking tired as he bent his head into his knees. It wasn’t clear if he was sleeping or not.

“Hyungwon!” Minhyuk whooped, and hugged Changkyun from behind as he ran towards the swing set.

“Let me go!” Changkyun complained. Minhyuk grabbed his butt in response, and it prompted Changkyun to give up and keep yelling for Hyungwon instead. The swing set finally stopped spinning, and Hyungwon fell off. Hoseok, on the verge of tears, checked if he was alright. Hyungwon patted Hoseok’s shoulders and puked all over the wood chips. 

Jooheon and Minhyuk were the masterminds behind the outing- sick of doing the same things everyday, Jooheon pulled Minhyuk aside and the two conspired with one another to start changing their lives. Eyes sparkling, they agreed- and Hyungwon’s progressive vomiting was a result of that. After Hyunwoo and Hoseok had a miniature melt down, Kihyun whipped Hyunwoo back into shape and told Hoseok to man up, because they had a long night ahead of them. 

“Break into a gas stop?” Hoseok said, shocked.

“I’m hungry.” Kihyun stated plainly, and before his friends could stop him, he was picking the lock of the store.

“Do you know how to pick locks?” Changkyun asked, and Kihyun looked up at him in rage. “Of course I do!” He swatted Changkyun’s face away. “Watch!”

Another twenty minutes, and Kihyun forcefully gave up his hair pin to Changkyun, who handed it off to Jooheon.

“I’ve trespassed everywhere in this world.” Jooheon remarked wistfully. 

“That was just a hard lock to pick.” Kihyun muttered, kicking a rock beneath his foot.

“Should we really be breaking in?” Hoseok suddenly worried, and looked immediately to Hyunwoo for support. Hyunwoo could not provide any back up- he was seated on the cement and sleeping sitting up. 

“It’s open!” Jooheon shrilled in excitement, and did a little dance to express his excitement. “Come on, hurry up!”

They filled their little shopping cart with everything from milk to hot dogs, and Kihyun busted open a bag of doritos. “This is a massive convenience store!” He said gleefully, laying down in the shopping cart. Hyunwoo pushed the cart around in silence, perhaps pondering the meaning of their existence. Hyungwon, who had puked up his guts, was knocked out in the cart, snuggling into Kihyun.

“Hoseok!” Changkyun whispered, and Hoseok, who had lightened up and was eating hard ramen, looked up from filling his shirt with a quarter pound of ramen. Changkyun, delighted he was able to trick his friend, smiled maliciously. He grabbed Hoseok’s chin, “Say ah!” Changkyun said, and squirted canned cheese in his mouth until he couldn’t anymore. Destroyed inside from the betrayal, Hoseok fell to the ground and held his head, ramen packets slowly falling out of his sweater. Changkyun laughed, mouth full of hot dog, and fell to the ground with Hoseok as he broke down.

“Get up!” Jooheon shouted. “All you guys, get up, we gotta go!”

“What?!” Minhyuk’s head poked out from robbing a variety of on-brand candies. “What, what?”

“I said let’s go! Cops are here!”

That’s how it started. Minhyuk found beauty in the way Hyungwon looked, a little bit of drool coming out of his mouth as his head jumped up and down as the shopping cart rattled down the streets. Hyunwoo found beauty in the way the wind surged past him, swirling into his ears, making his heart thud as the laughter of his friends and Hoseok’s crying sank deep into his mind. Kihyun found beauty in the way Jooheon’s eyes were alive, in the way Changkyun looked as his forehead was completely exposed, the way Hyunwoo looked just a little stupid, how Hyungwon was drooling just a lot, how a little bit of snot was running from Minhyuk’s nose, found beauty in the way Hoseok’s tears illumianted his brilliant, happy smile. Hoseok found beauty in the great escape by breaking away from the whirling reality and catching a glimpse of the moon in the black sky- a flash of light that motivated him to keep living. Hyungwon, though asleep through the whole ordeal, found his own beauty in the way the left over adrenaline illuminated his friend’s faces as they panted and recalled the rushing emotions of just an hour ago.

The beauty of life was suddenly coursing within them. The beauty of freedom made everything in their minds shift. The beauty of themselves, of the creation of two moons in the reflection of each of their eyes, was something that made their pulses quicken, their hearts beat, their lives feel their own again. But the discovery of that beauty was what would forever connect them and nothing would ever change that. 

Their grades had taken a severe blow, but each of the seven boys were sure the quality of their lives was better than ever. Grades didn’t really matter, Kihyun offered the explanation one day when Jooheon sadly revealed his awful grades to his friends, since the government was slowly destroying every job out there anyway, there was nothing left to do but live life as it was.

“Changkyun’s grades haven’t changed at all!” Minhyuk pouted, and revealed his report card. Full of ninety percents, Changkyun’s friends glared at him with murderous eyes.

“I’m starting a fundraiser to kill Changkyun.” Hyungwon muttered.

And so, they skipped their classes too. They were happy so long as they were together, and any thoughts of the future were discarded for the pleasure of the present. There were no underlying factors, the boys were sure, they were just desperate to have some fun. But as death tolls increased and the centuries seemed to reverse, the news on television proved to be horrible enough that Jooheon, though unknowingly, was compelled to live life as he never had before. All the boys were compelled to live life as they never had- and as the weeks passed, and the news got worse, their school suddenly saw a decline in the overall grades. Everybody had subconsciously made the choice to live life as they never had before. The factors were overlooked, and teachers too stopped trying to help as the days progressed.  
But the happiness persisted. No matter what ugliness was surrounding them, the seven boys were each other’s worlds, and blocked out the disgusting facts of the real world. Arrogant and happy, they closed themselves off. Their bubble was not from pure ignorance though, and not from the want to be completely unaware of the life outside them. The bubble was formed to protect themselves, and to protect each other.

Life was not as beautiful as they were working for it to be- in fact, life was the opposite. Just like the outside world, none of the boys had had a particularly free and gorgeous life. Changkyun, over chicken wings and soda as they played video games in Hoseok’s beaten down apartment, revealed to his friends that he’d been homeless since he was a kid. 

“I don’t know.” Changkyun shrugged, staring blankly at the outdated television screen. “I don’t know any real details. I remember having a house. I remember how hard my dad worked. I used to… to watch him work every night. I think when his face got all scrunched up, he might’ve looked like me. But I’m just not sure. I was seven, and… that’s all I know. I’ve just been on the streets ever since. Sleeping in subways, eating at school, registering myself for junior high and high school, everything… That’s just how life has always been.”

Hoseok had kissed behind his ear, and hugged his back. “Live with me, Changkyun. You don’t have to anymore, you don’t have to be lonely anymore.”

Changkyun had cried his eyes out after hearing it- and though none of the boys were sure of Changkyun’s current living conditions, Hoseok and Changkyun got to school together, and their snacks started to look similar.

Hoseok, though the boys were long since aware, had no parents. He never elaborated, but when the topic did roll around, he’d tell them he never really had parents. “All I have is Haeji.” Hoseok would say firmly. “That’s all I really need.” He worked after school too. This too was long since known, as they’d often see Hoseok hurry off and arrive to school with dark eyebags. When asked, Hoseok would grin. “Gotta keep Haeji alive somehow, right?”

Hyunwoo was stuck in poverty. His uniforms were always ragged and beat up, holes torn into his sleeves and his socks falling apart. (These days, Kihyun took up the job of helping him out- he’d sneak into the P.E. room and steal Hyunwoo’s uniform, skip class and sewed his jackets and pants every time a new hole appeared.) Hyunwoo’s parents worked diligently, but the pay never sufficed. After spending the night at Hyunwoo’s a couple times, the boys came to understand that Hyunwoo wasn’t fed everyday, and neither were his siblings, and neither were his parents. Always, always, a little hungry, a little tired, a little cold. 

Kihyun, though was quiet about his private life, was accidentally exposed when his friends were all over and his mother went a little batshit crazy on him. The boys had easily perceived that Kihyun’s mother didn’t care too much for him, and often looked at him like he was a true stranger.  
Minhyuk, who had a wealthy and happy upbringing, was suddenly faced with piles of bills and taxes and overdue statements on the dinner table every night. As teenagehood reared its head, his family was forced into a poverty similar to Hyunwoo’s- but nobody had ever been to Minhyuk’s house, and his clothes were always as neat as they could be, so they could only go off of what Minhyuk had told them during those sentimental sleep overs. It wasn’t right to pester him further into revealing how his life was.

Jooheon was like Changkyun, but the boys had always known he was homeless. He always crashed at Hoseok’s, Minhyuk’s, Kihyun’s, couch surfed and broke into houses as often as he could. Though Hoseok constantly begged him to stay at his house, Jooheon aggressively refused. His friends had forced him to at least accept free breakfast and dinner at their houses, to which he reluctantly accepted.

And Hyungwon, who each of the seven boys had become increasingly protective over, arrived to school with cuts on his noses and bruises on his chin, thick lips purple and swelling. Hyungwon would always smile at them, and though Minhyuk would cry begging him to tell them what was happening, Hyungwon would tell him not to worry about it.

Life was not as pretty as the boys were seeing it to be now. They were seeing life through a lens. It would never be as pretty as they wished it to be- but inside their bubble, life was incredible. Everything was as it should, and their was no point in yearning for a higher purpose in their lives. It was just them seven, always and forever, even if they were torn apart from each other when the morning came. That was their reality, and was the beauty they’d discovered together. The beauty within each other was what set them free, was what let the boys break from the bruising shackles of their own black realities, and into a gorgeous, flowering world of their own. 

“What class we got fifth period?” Jooheon asked, biting on a lollipop as he played Sonic on his nintendo DS.

“How do you have a Nintendo?” Hoseok asked.

“We have math.” Hyungwon replied.

“Are you going?” Jooheon called, and Hyungwon laughed. “Are you kidding? Let’s bust into the computer room.” 

Changkyun high fived Hyungwon at the suggestion. “Smart things come out of your stupid mouth!” He hollered. 

“Is it still lunch?” Hoseok asked, and Kihyun nodded. He was fixing the case of Jooheon’s phone, leaning on Hyunwoo’s leg. Behind him, Hyunwoo used Kihyun’s head as an arm rest to play flappy bird on his phone.

“Hyunwoo, I’m gonna get more food. Minhyuk, you wanna come?”

“More food?!” Jooheon whistled. “Hey, meet you guys in the computer room. Hoseok, are they serving yesterday’s leftovers?”

“No way I’ll eat anything. We keep robbing all that food, I’ve been pooping chips and ramen everyday.” Minhyuk waved them off.

“They’re not serving anything.” Hoseok frowned. Kihyun was quick to immitate him and his dumb face. 

“The cafeteria lady likes Hoseok.” Hyunwoo grinned cheekily. “She always gives him more food on Tuesdays.”

“That’s more food for us!” Changkyun did the worm, and suddenly, the five of them followed after Hoseok, teasing him, pulling on his pointy ears and singing about food. It was just Hyungwon and Minhyuk on the school’s rooftop now.

Hyungwon bit his lip. Colors painted his cheeks, and he couldn’t bring himself to say anything to Minhyuk.

“What?” Minhyuk grinned. “Why so quiet? Did Hoseok with his shirt unbuttoned make you happy?”

“Happy?” Hyungwon muttered. “He always has his shirt off.”

“Kihyun’s his number one fan. All he does is take pictures of him.” Minhyuk joked. “He’s really good at taking his pictures though! I’ve seen them all, and Hoseok looks like a real model.”

“Do you like Hoseok?” Hyungwon suddenly asked. He meant it to be a serious question, but Minhyuk always talked about him a lot. Hyungwon understood why. Hoseok was handsome and buff, and had a heart of pure sugar and a marriage-worthy smile. But did Minhyuk really like that guy?

“Of course I do!” Minhyuk smiled. “He makes me laugh, with his stupid face. Kihyun imitating him is way too funny.”

“Do you…” Hyungwon awkwardly tried to form his sentences. He gathered his legs, and pressed his nose into his knees. “Love Hoseok?”  
“Love him?” Minhyuk laughed. “Of course I don’t! We’ve been friends for like, forever now.”

Hurt by that statement, Hyungwon pushed his face further into his knees. What did that mean? Did Minhyuk not date his friends? “You’ve only known him for two years.” Hyungwon murmured, heart throbbing in anticipation of his response.

“Are you okay?” Minhyuk asked, and scooted closer to Hyungwon. “I bet you’re tired. You’re tired, huh?”

Hyungwon’s fingers dug into his pants, balling them into his fists. He was overly sensitive today, and though he knew the reason why, he wished Minhyuk would catch on to what Hyungwon was feeling just a little faster. “I’m just tired.” Hyungwon sighed. As discreetly as he could, he rubbed his eyes against his knees, wiping away his tears. The bell rang, interrupting what could’ve been a tender moment between the two, and Minhyuk was pushing Hyungwon to his feet and gathering their things. 

As Minhyuk waited for him to get ready, Hyungwon’s eyes were glued to the floor. But something caught his attention- Minhyuk’s fingers, tips peeking out from the navy blue sleeves that proved to be just a bit too long. Suddenly, Hyungwon’s fingers twitched. 

“Are you ready?” Minhyuk snapped him out of his trance. “What do you keep staring at.”

Hyungwon shook his head, and dove his hands into his pockets. “Nothing. Let’s get out of here.”

“Hey, what was last night’s homework?” Changkyun asked Hoseok, who lounging on the couch as he helped Haeji with her math. 

“You’re interested in homework again?!” Hoseok’s eyes almost fell out of their sockets. “I haven’t done homework for two weeks!”

“I forgive you. You have all your jobs and stuff.” Changkyun sniffed. “But if you didn’t have any jobs, I’d be beating you up as we speak. Freaking criminal, not doing your homework…”

“Minhyuk never does his homework! Hyungwon, nobody does their homework!” Hoseok protested.

“That’s why I beat them up every single day.” Changkyun told him, flashing an evil smile.

“Changkyun!” Haeji called. “Can you help me with homework?”

“Hey, why aren’t you asking me?” Hoseok pouted. Haeji flipped her hair behind her shoulder. “Because you don’t know anything! I failed my chemistry quiz because you have no idea how to do mole conversions!”

“This is the importance of education.” Changkyun sighed. He walked from the kitchen to the living room, though there wasn’t much distinction, and sat on the floor beside Haeji. He pet her hair lovingly and smiled at her. “I’ll only help her because she’s the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen.”

“Changkyun!” Hoseok gasped. “Haeji, don’t giggle! I’m more handsome than he is!”

“Nobody said anything about you!” Changkyun stuck his tongue out. Haeji kept giggling, cheeks red as Changkyun leaned in to look over her math equations. Hoseok shook his head, and sunk back into the couch, deciding to turn on the television.

“Hoseok, when do you go to work?” After Changkyun had finished Haeji’s homework and awarded her with a kiss on the cheek, she’d scampered off to the bathroom, leaving Changkyun and Hoseok to watch television on their own.

“I have the night shift.” Hoseok said. “Why?”

“Jooheon wants to go mess around.” Changkyun said, and put his chin on Hoseok’s knee.

“I can go after. The shift ends around eleven.” Hoseok suggested, and Changkyun looked to his hyung with big eyes. 

“You’re not gonna be tired?” Changkyun rubbed his hand on Hoseok’s leg. 

Hoseok shook his head. “Should we go sleep now then?”

Changkyun nodded, looking ecstatic. Hoseok hauled himself up from the couch, and the two made their way to the matresses on the floor behind the couch. Their house was little; the kitchen was just inches from the sofa, and the sofa served as a dining area and a living room. The television was cramped into the living space, and the bathroom was barely four feet long, and every time Hoseok cooked something a little fire would start in the house, but Changkyun wouldn’t have it any other way. He was happy having a home, happy to share it with his best friend, happy to help Haeji with her homework. The two crawled into their shared mattress, which always resulted in Changkyun cuddling Hoseok, and Hoseok talked away until the two of them managed to fall asleep.

Spring faded into summer that night. The boys could feel it the moment they stepped outside to head to their meeting places- the night would be long, sweaty and hot, and every one was sure Minhyuk had an elaborate set of crimes to commit. Tonight, Minhyuk lead the pack to a vast field of grass. No crimes but noise pollution were to be committed tonight. Hyunwoo had brought a massive speaker, and once his phone was hooked up, there was no stopping the dance moves Hyunwoo had. He and Hoseok spent half the night choreographing moves while the boys desperately tried to dance along. Minhyuk blessed the group of friends with a soccer ball, and the kids kicked it around happily in the dark, boisterous and squealing as they tried to block balls and pass them to their teams.

“I’m sick of this!” Jooheon wailed after Hyungwon refused to pass the ball to him for the fifth time, and took out his frustrations by sulking to Hyunwoo. He stood in front of Hyunwoo with his head bowed in silence, as though Hyunwoo would solve all his problems. Hyunwoo hugged him, then bent down and said, “Go destroy Hyungwon.” It was great advice.

“Like a father’s advice to his son!” Minhyuk called dreamily.

“Advice to his destructive son!” Changkyun snorted, and Jooheon kicked the ball at Changkyun’s head.

The night passed. They danced, Kihyun showed them his astonishing set of high notes, Jooheon choked Hoseok over the soccer ball, and eventually, the night settled down. They lay on the grass, Hyunwoo’s music lowered to the point that the cicadas were making more noise, all with their heads on each other’s legs and arms around each other’s waists. Hoseok and Changkyun were knocked out, Jooheon sleeping on top of them. Hyungwon, who was once laying beside Hyunwoo and Kihyun, crept from his spot between the two sleeping bodies. Heart beating, he let his feet take him to Minhyuk’s side. 

The sleeping boy was apart from the rest of their friends, laying on nobody’s leg, peaceful as he slept. Hyungwon knelt beside him, and eased onto his side, facing Minhyuk. Eyes quivering, he stared at Minhyuk’s face, unable to look away. The dawn was breaking, and a beautiful set of blues and whites were a stark contrast to Minhyuk’s tanned skin. The light shone on the rise of his nose, made his eyelashes look feathery and colored the shape of his lips strangely. Hyungwon, with a trembling hand, reached out to touch his face. His finger tip barely touched the skin. The contact was minimum though he tried to press his fingers into Minhyuk’s supple skin. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t go further than the bare touch of his finger tips growing sensitive at the feeling of the white hairs on Minhyuk’s cheekbones. That’s how Hyungwon broke his own heart- he let his fingertips dance across Minhyuk’s face, barely touching the slope of his nose, barely tracing over his lips. Just barely that he could feel it, but not enough to touch. 

Tears slipped from Hyungwon’s eyes. Waves of emotions he’d never felt before were crashing deep into the cores of everything he knew to be true, destroying any perception of love he’d ever seen before. He let his trembling hand press into Minhyuk’s cheek as he wept in silence, chest heaving. Hyungwon didn’t know what to do. He moved his arms, wrapping them around Minhyuk’s arm, inching closer to the point he could sob into Minhyuk’s shoulder.

Dawn broke, and Minhyuk’s eyes opened wide. Heart beating, he slowly moved his head to see if Hyungwon was still awake. Frozen in his spot, he did not feel relieved that Hyungwon was sleeping, but he knew he would feel exactly the same way if Hyungwon were awake. The sun awoke, proving its existence against Hyungwon’s dark skin, and Minhyuk stared at his friend in shock as the morning reared its head. Afraid to try understanding what Hyungwon was feeling, he turned to his side, and gathered Hyungwon in his arms, holding his head close to his chest. 

Haeji and Hoseok were beautiful children. Both with pretty eyes and pretty faces, their parents showered love on the two. Haeji was their father’s pride and joy, and their mother was ready to give up anything to keep her son happy. They cooked handsome foods for their children, gave them lavish rooms and gave Haeji any toys she’d ever want. Their mother taught both of them how to fight crazy people, and their father taught them how to defend themselves from spirts of evil; Hoseok and Haeji never knew what they were saying, but as they grew older, these kinds of things persisted. Mom and Dad got more intense with their lessons. Hoseok knew all sorts of weird potions, and Haeji had demon warding spells on her door. And one day, Mom left streaks of red on the walls of the house; she’d cut her hands open, sacrificing herself for a guarding spirit. Haeji had screamed and Hoseok began to cry; their mother looked at them with swollen eyes, and she died. Dad blamed it on the spirits- the wicked demons that were disgusting enough to take such a beautiful woman away from him. Dad acted however he wanted at that point, but one night, Hoseok caught Dad cutting Haeji’s hands while she slept. It had become a concern of hers. Every morning, she’d wake up and show Hoseok the scabbing wounds on her palms, and Hoseok had checked every corner of her bed for any loose nails or sharp sides, but there was nothing. Tonight, Hoseok found the culprit, and tonight, the culprit had a massive knife. Hoseok knocked the knife away from his hands. He picked up Haeji, who had blood on her face and bruises on her throat, and slammed the door as he ran out of the room. Dad followed, but when Hoseok told him he was crazy, Dad froze. At ten years old, Hoseok watched his dad as he turned and ran out of the house. 

“Chae Hyungwon?” The teacher called his name. Hyungwon looked up from his phone. “Here.”

“Nice to see you in math today!” The teacher said, looking shocked. “If I’m not mistaken… Are all seven of you in class today?”

Jooheon grinned at the teacher. He threw her a peace sign from behind Hyungwon, as his seat was behind his. “What’s up teacher! Hoseok missed you today, so we all came in.”

“I didn’t miss her!” Hoseok reeled back in shock. He looked at Jooheon from across the class as though he were crazy. “Changkyun wanted to get math homework!”

“What’s up shitheads!” Minhyuk appeared at the doorway, Kihyun blushing in embarrassment behind him. He did the robot for a couple of seconds in an attempt to amuse his classmates, but quickly discovered the teacher’s heavy stares. “Oh!” He bowed immediately. “Good morning teacher!”

“Minhyuk, sit down before I send you to the principal for profanity.” She sighed, and Minhyuk gave her a charming smile. 

“Neomu banjak-banjak nuni busheo,” Jooheon suddenly started singing in his desk, bouncing up and down. “No no no no no!”

“Neomu gamjak-gamjak nollan naneun!” Minhyuk sang along, dancing the choreography as he made his way to his seat. Kihyun had long since sat down, ashamed of his friends.

“Oh oh oh oh oh!” Hoseok, Minhyuk and Jooheon all chorused.

“Do you love that song, teacher?” Hoseok called, rubbing Minhyuk’s shoulders once he took his seat in front of Hoseok. 

“I love it when you are quiet.” The teacher sighed, looking defeated only fifteen minutes into class. 

“Quiet?” A classmate of theirs, Minji, who was notorious for being an academic try hard, snorted. “Them?! They’re never quiet! Especially not that Jooheon!”

“All you do is talk about Jooheon!” Minhyuk accused, and the classroom whooped and let out ripples of _ooo_ s. Across the classroom, Jooheon lowered his face into his desk. 

“You’re being insane!” Minji shouted, standing up with such force her chair fell back. Her face burned red, and Minhyuk earned three slaps on the head from Hyunwoo, Hoseok and Changkyun. Minji’s friend picked up her chair and helped her sit back down, but the class was still chatting reverently from Minji and Minhyuk’s brief confrontation. 

“Quiet down! Hoseok, back in your seat!” The teacher snapped. “Pay attention!”

“Neomu jarit jarit momi tteolyeo.” Minhyuk kept singing, as though he were oblivious to the prior events. “Gee gee gee gee gee!”

“Teacher, I don’t think you like that song.” Hoseok clicked his tongue in disappointment. “It’s a really good song!”

The teacher collapsed into her seat and put her head into her arms folded on top of the desk. 

As they walked out of class and made it through the crowd of boys wanting to tag along after them, Jooheon was faced with a merciless wave of taunting from all six friends.

“You like Minji?!” Changkyun gasped, eyes wide enough to pop out of his sockets. 

“Jooheon likes Minji!” Hyunwoo sang, looking up dreamily to the sky as he ate his chips. 

Kihyun, who was riding on Hoseok’s back, laughed along with his friends. “Minji…. is she a looker to you, Joo?”

“I hate you guys so much.” Jooheon pouted, crossing his arms.

“She’s a looker to him! Stop being mean!” Minhyuk defended him, hugging his shoulders. Jooheon pushed him away, and took a few steps ahead of everybody else.

“Jooheon, who liked who first?” Hyungwon, who was always zoning out of things like teasing and playful arguments, was engaged in today’s bout of fun. His eyes shone as he spoke, giggling and falling into Hyunwoo whenever he got too happy. “Because I think it was you that confessed.”

“You’re all so mean!” Jooheon whined, stomping his feet. “I don’t like her! She doesn’t like me! Stop it before I get mad!”

“Jooheon, please don’t be sulky!” Hoseok begged.

“Guys, let’s stop.” From the safety of Hoseok’s back, Kihyun, everybody’s guardian, stepped in to save Jooheon. “He gets mad easy. You’re gonna hurt his feelings soon.”

“He and Changkyun are like babies.” Hyunwoo giggled, and so did everybody else. “Always so upset! It’s like little toddlers throwing tantrums!”

“Changkyun is my toddler!” Minhyuk declared, and tried to give him a kiss on the neck. Changkyun rejected forcefully, but Minhyuk was like a parasite. Hyungwon watched from the corner of his eye.

“Why are you guys dragging me into this?!” Changkyun huffed, struggling to balance Minhyuk’s lips and fighting with his friends. He eventually gave in, and Minhyuk got his kiss. 

“Jooheon is always my son.” Hyunwoo stated peacefully, and it seemed to cheer up Jooheon. He stopped, and with a beaming smile, ran towards Hyunwoo.

“I love you dad.” Jooheon said, and Hyunwoo gave him a hug before the group carried on walking down the hall.

“Hey, where are we going?” Hoseok asked, and the friends looked curiously at him. They too had not thought about it.

“Aren’t we going to class?” Hyungwon scratched his cheek.

“Isn’t school over?” Changkyun asked. For an answer, they looked to Hoseok and Hyunwoo with wide eyes yearning for answers. 

“Uh…” Hyunwoo thought for a moment. 

“Roof top?” Hoseok tilted his head. The idea was an immediate hit, and the boys made their way to the stair case happily. Jooheon broke into laughter, sulking forgotten, and the group’s energy boosted as they pushed and shoved each other into stair case railings and walls. 

Thoughts of yesterday were an escape from life. Leaving their ignorant bubble and returning to the world was a revelation like no other, and each boy returned from school with heavy bones and dragging hearts. 

Somewhere far and indistinct, music thumped next door and rattled the dishes drying on the counter top. This house had no air conditioning- Korea’s drastic weather changes as the seasons passed left any human in poverty starved for the touch of cold air as the summer made its entrance. Broad shoulders, tanned and soaked in sweat, moved rhythmically to the music as big hands washed dishes. At his feet, Hyujin, a pretty little girl who looked much like her big brother. The broad shoulders belonged to Hyunwoo, the big hands belonged to Hyunwoo, and Hyunjin looked just like her brother. In the living room only inches away from the shrunken kitchen, the news channel droned on endlessly. The remote control lounged lazily on the counter top, waiting either to be used or to be splashed on by the sink water so it could never be used again.

“Are you hungry?” Hyunwoo asked absently, putting the last of the dishes to dry. 

“No!” Hyujin gurgled merrily, and Hyunwoo pat her head with wet, affectionate hands. 

“Good girl.” Hyunwoo mumbled, trying to keep his heart from parting. His sister was skinny. Her elbows showed, and her cheek bones were too prominent for a six year old. Hyunwoo sighed deeply, straightening up and wiping his hands on his pants. At least there was a little bit of music on.

Hyunwoo moved on to put the dishes back in their places. There wasn’t much to store, as there wasn’t much to eat. The amount of food in the refrigerator, as Hoseok once said, indicated how many dishes you’d have to wash at night. Hyunwoo, though constantly exposed to what Hoseok was implying, did not quite process what Hoseok meant until early this morning. 

Hyunwoo swayed with the neighbor’s music, humming along to the foreign tunes. Hyunwoo had an affinity for dancing. His feet moved whenever music came on, and his shoulders twitched in desperate attempts to start moving. But dancing was impossible. It would always, Hyunwoo had known since he was very young, be one hundred percent impossible. 

In the background, the news channel reporter had changed to a younger announcer with a charming voice, accompanied by another announcer who was equally skilled. Hyunwoo suddenly began to pick up the announcer’s voice with ease, and the neighbor’s music became white noise.

 _”Korea’s meeting critical conditions as the stock markets are plummeting.”_

_”Aren’t these the lowest birth rates we’ve ever seen in the history of modern society?”_

_”Insanely enough, Korea’s at the forefront of combatting overpopulation!”_

_”I find it funny. Ninety eight percent of Korea is in complete poverty now, isn’t that right? How can that be true when there are no people to put in poverty?”_

_”Now that the middle class is gone, anything is possible! Let’s talk about conflicts with the United States of America. Today-...”_

Hyunwoo shut off the television. 

“No more TV?” Hyujin called. Hyunwoo, silent for a long moment, shook his head. Slowly, he turned back to the kitchen sink. Looking to dodge his little sister’s question, Hyunwoo turned on the faucet and reached hurriedly into the sink- but there was nothing to wash. 

Tomorrow, Hyunwoo would not check the news. He wouldn’t the day after tomorrow, or the day after the day after tomorrow, and it would be questionable to believe he might be watching the news five, ten or thirty days from now. But tomorrow, Jooheon would wake up at the crack of dawn, and find two duffle bags peeking out from a dumpster as he left his make-shift home at the subway and walked to school. 

“Damn!” Jooheon cringed, face scrunching at the sight of blood dripping from the bags. “Are those bodies or something?” Toughened up by the years of strange sights on the streets of Seoul, Jooheon kept going.

Of course it was impossible for Hyunwoo to dance. It was one hundred percent impossible.

Hyungwon came to school roughed up. He’d done it two times since they’d became friends. The bruises and cuts would change their positions each time, but it wouldn’t change the look of horror on his friend’s faces. Today was one of those days. The swells of the cuts were impossible to hide, and slathering makeup over his face would be sure to infect his wounds. Though Hyungwon had gone with cuts and bruises to class all through out elementary and middle school, and never had much trouble with teacher’s questions, Hyungwon had grown to feel ashamed under the hot stares of his classmates and the conflicted eyes of his teachers. Going to class was difficult and staying home was out of the question- With no where to go the boys found Hyungwon on the roof top, sitting on the edge of the building, back to them as his head tilted towards the blue sky.

“Hyungwon!” Hoseok sang. “You said you wanted to come to class today! Bad day?”

“You even missed lunch!” Kihyun said. “Did you stay home all day?” 

Silence passed. Hyungwon chuckled. “Had to see you guys at some point today.”

“So you only came for sixth period?” Jooheon clicked his tongue disapprovingly. “Should’ve just been gone the whole day!”

“Guys, stop.” Changkyun suddenly muttered. Hyungwon, knowing what was to come, decided to reveal himself before Changkyun could. He tilted his head back, and grinned widely at his friends.

“Hyungwon…” Minhyuk was the first to react. Hyungwon’s name caught in his throat, jumbling the sounds enough to make the name come out in a mixture of a forceful groan and a shocked wail. Hyungwon looked quickly away; tears were forming in his eyes. Once he wiped them away, Hoseok was already helping him away from the edge of the rooftop. The boys gathered around Hyungwon, and Jooheon was crying before any words were said.

“Hyungwon.” Kihyun mumbled. “You really can’t tell us what’s happening? You always show up to school like this.”

“I don’t always.” Hyungwon smiled, and he closed his eyes. “Not always.”

“Hyungwon, stop it.” Kihyun pet the hair from his face with the tips of his fingers. Hyungwon shivered at the touch, the unexpected affection making his eyes water. “What’s going on? Is somebody messing with you?”

“We fuck up whoever messes with you.” Changkyun snarled loyally, looking like a monster as he promised the words with a glint in his eyes.

“Fuck them up. Fucking destroy them.” Jooheon agreed through his tears. “Who’s messing with you, Hyungwon?”

“Nobody’s messing with me.” Hyungwon laughed. “I swear nobody’s messing with me.”

“Hyungwon!” Hoseok shoved his shoulder. “You’re gonna be like that now? Dude, just tell us what’s wrong! You know we won’t feel upset! Or disappointed, we won’t feel what you think we will!”

“Hoseok, stop.” Minhyuk snapped. He moved closer to Hyungwon, and kissed him on the cheek as tenderly as he possibly could. Though the situation was tense, Hyungwon still melted at the touch, and reached out his hands for Minhyuk to hold once the kiss ended. “What’s wrong, Hyungwon? What’s going on.”

“Nothing’s going on.” Hyungwon promised, squeezing Minhyuk’s hands. But, no matter how hard he believed his lies would pull him through, his voice wasn’t sharing that same belief. There was a grief in his voice- a tight way that he spoke made sure it was clear that nothing was right in Hyungwon’s world. From his eyes, though one was black and swollen shut, tears dripped onto Minhyuk’s hand. He spoke through sobs, face lowering into Minhyuk’s hands. “Nothing happened.”

“Hyungwon, we’re begging you to tell us.” Minhyuk choked out, bending down so that his head was pressed to Hyungwon’s. “We’re begging you, Hyungwon.”

Suddenly, Hyungwon’s cries could be heard. He wailed and sobbed, and threw himself onto Minhyuk, and fell on the floor crying into his chest. Minhyuk started crying too, begging and pleading for answers, and Hyungwon made his grip on Minhyuk’s hand deathly tight before he said anything close to an answer. Just as soon as Hyungwon had broke down, everybody fell on the floor beside him, hovering over him and Minhyuk. 

“Why do you think I hate going home?!” Hyungwon hit Minhyuk’s arm helplessly, as though he were the one at fault. “Why do you think I’m here so early?! Why do I ask you guys to hang out with me all the time?!”

“Hyungwon!” Hoseok wailed. Even Hyunwoo was crying at this point- he’d fallen onto his butt and was swaying from side to side, strangling the bridge of his nose in an attempt not to cry. Tears were running down his face anyways. 

“Is it your dad, Hyungwon?!” Changkyun spat, his tears dripping onto Minhyuk’s school jacket. “Should I fucking kill him?! Who do you want me to kill, Hyungwon, just tell me!”

“Just stay with me!” Hoseok pleaded, eyes red. He grabbed Hyungwon’s hands, and pressed four or more kisses deep into his knuckles. “Just come be with me! Please god, please come with me, I can’t- Hyungwon, I don’t wanna…” He trailed off in weeps. Hyungwon, whose body was occupied by Minhyuk’s strong hold and face buried into his stomach as he sobbed, outstretched gangly arms to Hoseok. Hoseok took him briefly away from Minhyuk, and Hyungwon cried into Hoseok’s neck instead. Beside them, Hyunwoo rocked himself, whining and crying.

“Hyungwon, don’t worry! You don’t even- that’s not your home, okay?!” Kihyun shouted, hands on his hips as he cried. “You- you just come be with us at any time. We- ugh, we’re your home Hyungwon! Just- just come to us!”

“I hate this world!” Jooheon sobbed, thrown onto Hoseok and Hyungwon along with Minhyuk. Changkyun was crying beside them too, arms around Hoseok’s neck in order to hold Hyungwon’s face. “Stupid fucking world! Hurting the prettiest friend I have! God, I just, the timing, nothing…”  
“What are you saying?!” Hyungwon blubbered, and used a spare hand to swing it at Jooheon through all the cuddles and affection he was receiving.

Jooheon kissed him on the eyebrow. A wet kiss, but beautiful nonetheless. 

Beautiful nights filled with shrieks and music, Hyunwoo’s break dancing and Kihyun’s laughter were all more than enough to satisfy the hunger.  
Tonight, Jooheon and Minhyuk lay in his bed, Minjun asleep on the cushion beside Minhyuk’s. 

“When are you gonna quit couch surfing?” Minhyuk whispered. 

“When are you gonna buy me a house?” Jooheon grunted. Tangled in each other’s arms, Minhyuk had been in a layer deep mood of affection for weeks now, and Jooheon would come by more often as a result. Minhyuk was always overjoyed to see him- and Minhyuk’s mom, who thought Jooheon was the most handsome boy she’d ever seen, was equally as delighted.

“Tomorrow.” Minhyuk smiled. He pressed a kiss into Jooheon’s hair. “Tomorrow I’ll buy you a bunch of houses.”

“A bunch?” Jooheon played with Minhyuk’s hands. “Just need one yacht. That’s pretty much it.”

“Should I buy you a yacht?” Minhyuk pet Jooheon’s hair back and kissed his forehead. “Maybe I should buy you everything on Earth.”

“Are you flirting with me?” Jooheon narrowed his eyes. 

“Yes.” Minhyuk nodded, his grin visible in the darkness. “I’m always flirting with you. Jooheon, why don’t we date?”

Jooheon elbowed him in the stomach. “Only if you want to die. Hyungwon will kill me if I ever kiss you back.”

“Why would he kill you?” Minhyuk snuggled into Jooheon, unaffected by the extreme attack Jooheon had delivered. “I love all of you equally!”

“Why don’t you sleep?” Jooheon suggested, and Minhyuk kissed his head again.

“Hyung loves you.” Minhyuk crooned.

Jooheon blushed. He turned away from Minhyuk, and quickly changed topics. “I’m so hungry.”  
“Me too.” Minhyuk sighed, rolling away from Jooheon. “I think Minjun’s getting hungrier these days too. I wish… I don’t know what I wish.”

“Wish… You had some more money?” Jooheon rolled to Minhyuk. 

Minhyuk stared at the ceiling for a long while. Was that what he wished? A small smile appeared on Minhyuk’s face. “I wish life was always beautiful.”

Lights glistened in Changkyun’s eyes. Small hands grabbed onto a white coat, tugging relentlessly in a quest to gain attention. Dad was always working on weird things- they made lights, noises, and a lot of times they made the house foggy. Dad never tried to open the windows when it happened, but it started to burn Changkyun’s eyes, so the boy opened the door himself. Dad wasn’t a talker. At night, he’d kiss Changkyun silently and read a children’s book with him. Dad didn’t do much of the reading- he liked to point at the words and let Changkyun read them aloud. Changkyun didn’t mind. He didn’t mind reading aloud, or that the house got foggy, or that Dad would try feeding him weird things for dinner, like putting adult medicine in his sandwiches. Changkyun recognized the odd tastes whenever there was grown up medicine in his sandwiches, and he’d spit it out aggressively and cry to his dad. Dad never gave Changkyun a reason. In silence, he pet Changkyun’s hair, and returned to work.

Changkyun didn’t even mind, one night, when Dad was putting medicine into himself with a doctor’s needle. Changkyun asked and pestered Dad about it, but Dad wouldn’t say anything. Changkyun, defeated, watched from his blanket as Dad pushed the weird stuff inside of his skin with the needle. Changkyun tried to ask his dad how the needle worked, but dad never had any answers. 

Changkyun didn’t mind too much because he was happy. Life was pretty since birth. There was a blue sky when Changkyun looked out the window, and when it got cold, Changkyun saw birds fly from the trees. Whenever he ran away from Dad, maybe during hide and seek, or maybe because his spaghetti tasted weird again, he’d run down the street and find that butterflies were running with him. But they ran with their wings- they flew, Changkyun had discovered the term. The flew away, disappearing into the blue afternoons with blue wings and unknown destinations. Changkyun tried to copy them many times, but nothing worked. 

He liked the butterflies. He drew them everywhere. On the walls, on Dad’s papers, on his sketch book, on his shoes. Butterflies flew. They just flew away. Changkyun would sit in the tiny backyard and wonder why he couldn’t fly away with the butterflies. His eyes were burning all the time, and the taste of grown up medicine was starting to sting his tongue. He’d put his little hands together, and pray for God to give him wings and help him become a butterfly. 

The house was foggy again today. But the door was locked, and Changkyun didn’t know how to unlock it. All the food Dad had given him this week had weird smells, and Dad wasn’t kissing Changkyun’s head anymore.

Police came. Police were bad guys! Changkyun wasn’t sure of his opinion on the police, but he showed them all the grown up medicine in his spaghetti from last night, and asked why Dad had been giving him so much. He then solved his question by saying it was because Changkyun had a really bad cold, and Dad was smart enough to figure out that really bad colds need grown-up medicine. He probably hated grown up medicine, Changkyun told the police, so that’s why Dad was giving him so much. The police, who Changkyun was thinking were bad guys by that point, asked why the house was full of smoke. What is smoke…? Changkyun told them it got foggy sometimes because of Dad’s work. He is a scientist, Changkyun told them, and said he wanted to be a scientist too.

“Your dad is like a butterfly.” A police officer said, crouched down and rubbing Changkyun’s arm comfortingly. “He was a caterpillar all this time, but he’s a butterfly now. He’s flown away.”

Changkyun frowned. “Dad is not a butterfly.” He told the officer. Police were officially bad guys now. How could they have gotten that wrong? “Dad can’t fly. Only people who hate foggy houses can fly.”

“Your dad…” The police officer took off her hat. “Kid, do you know anything about dying?”

“Everybody dies someday.” Changkyun recited what he’d read in a book. “That’s the circle of life.”

“Your dad is dead.” The police officer murmured, searching Changkyun’s face for any sort of reaction. “He’s flown away.”

Changkyun shoved the police officer away from him. He hated thinking Dad was a butterfly. Dad could not fly. Dad was not blue. Dad was not beautiful. Dad liked foggy houses, and Dad liked green colors, and medicine, and fire, and Dad was very, very ugly. The police was lying to him, because he knew Dad could never be a butterfly.

Changkyun shot up in bed. Head weighing him down, he sat up awkwardly, eyes wide open. He looked around. Hoseok was asleep beside him, arms looking empty now that Changkyun was out of them. Haeji was asleep on the mattress beside them, her phone on the verge of falling from her fingers.

Quietly, he got up. He crept to the door, and unlocked it as stealthily as he could. When the door opened, and the warm air greeted Changkyun’s nose, he let out a deep breath. He poked his head outside. It was not the dead of night, as Changkyun could see baby blue colors mingling with the darkness of the passing night. Something caught Changkyun’s attention- something his body had been looking for. 

Out of the corner of his eye, butterflies. In the distance, they swirled in a storm of beautiful insects, flying together as the morning broke. They were all blue.

“What’s the difference between pretty and beautiful?” Changkyun’s question sparked no conversation. His friends were spread apart in the music room, jackets off and button ups down in the boiling heat. 

“Thinking makes me hot.” Hyunwoo told Changkyun honestly. “Can’t think right now.”

“Pretty and beautiful are the same thing though.” Kihyun mumbled, watching Jooheon play Sonic on his Nintendo. “There’s no real difference, right?”

“Is life pretty, or is life beautiful?” Changkyun mused, head in Minhyuk’s lap. “That’s what I mean when I say what’s the difference.”

“You figure it out.” Jooheon demanded, wincing in his seat as Sonic fell to his unexpected doom. “Agh! Aren’t you the genius? You tell us.”

“The youngest is the genius.” Hyungwon shook his head, disappointed. “I can’t believe this is what the world has come to.”

“All of you start thinking!” Minhyuk suddenly said, taking a break from patting Changkyun’s hair. “Our youngest is asking us, so we figure it out!”

“I don’t know the difference.” Hyunwoo groaned, shoving Hoseok away from his shoulder. 

“Why did you shove me away?” Hoseok complained, shoving Hyunwoo’s shoulder in vengeance. “Well, maybe beautiful has more meaning than pretty. It’s like when you see a pretty girl, and then, you see a beautiful girl.”

“Aren’t all girls equally beautiful in your great eyes, Hoseok?” Jooheon sneered, and Hoseok laughed. “They are! I’m just saying as an example. Maybe your girlfriend is pretty, but your mom is beautiful, you know what I mean?”

“Why is it different?” Kihyun seemed to understand what Changkyun had been asking all along. “Beautiful and pretty mean the same thing, so why does one have more meaning than the other?”

“Maybe,” Minhyuk thought for a moment, focused on tying Changkyun’s hair into a sprout. “Maybe pretty is not as deep as beautiful, because... Well, maybe pretty means something more shallow than beautiful. Like, the sky is pretty, but I don’t know, maybe this art piece is beautiful.”

“You’re saying nonsense.” Hyunwoo accused, but Hyungwon and Changkyun were soaking in his words. 

“Is it really nonsense though?” Kihyun asked, looking thoughtful now. “Is the sky pretty because it’s something you always see the sky as? It’s always beautiful, so has it lost its meaning and become just pretty?”

“When we don’t know somebody very well,” Hoseok chimed in. “We just call them pretty, right? We don’t know them, but think they’re good looking, so we call them pretty.”

Changkyun nodded in agreement. Jooheon lowered his Nintendo, looking interested in Hoseok’s ideas.

“But when we do know them more, they become beautiful.” Hoseok said. “Does love make something beautiful?”

“But what about Minhyuk’s idea?” Jooheon argued. “Is the sky pretty because no love is put into it?”

“The sky is just pretty because we know the sun reflects and makes the sky all sorts of colors.” Hyungwon joined in, and now all the boys had become immersed in the conversation. “But the art work is beautiful because somebody put love into it. Is that it?”

“Life is beautiful.” Even Hyunwoo was thinking now. “If life is beautiful, it means that it’s because we can love things and people?”

“Then what about flowers?” Hoseok scratched his head. “Flowers can be pretty, but the prettier ones are called beautiful instead.”

“When have you ever called a flower beautiful?” Jooheon tsked, and threw a piece of paper at Kihyun.

“So does love have anything to do with being beautiful?” Hyungwon sat up, knees bent to support his chin as he thought. “What is beauty?”

“Why is life beautiful?” Jooheon threw it back to Hyunwoo’s ideas. “Why isn’t it just pretty? It’s weird to say life is pretty, but it’s normal to say it’s beautiful. When we feel strongly for something, is that what beautiful is?”  
“Life is beautiful because there’s bad parts of life, and hard parts we have to live through, and hundreds of things to learn.” Changkyun said. “Life can only be beautiful because of what we experience.”

“Does beauty form with hardship?” Minhyuk frowned. “Do we think things are beautiful because we know how much it’s been through?”

“For something to be beautiful, it has to have meaning then.” Hyunwoo’s voice hushed the chatter amongst their friends. “Haeji is beautiful to Hoseok because she is the only family he really has. Life is beautiful because of what we go through for it to be beautiful. Art is beautiful because we know somebody got their hands dirty to create it. My mother’s beautiful because I know it hurt her to have me, and hurt her to raise me. If the sky had the same meaning as Haeji, Hoseok would say the sky is beautiful. If flowers meant the same as our moms, they’d be beautiful too.”

“So being pretty is something nice on the eyes, but it has no meaning at all?” Hoseok asked. “Then all of you are beautiful to me!”

“Shut up!” The boys chorused, but their hearts warmed with Hoseok’s affections. They got up from their spots to harass their friend, Jooheon putting him in a headlock, Changkyun punching his shoulder, Hyungwon pretending to stomp on his feet, Hyunwoo laughing at him, Minhyuk pulling on his hair and making fun of his nose, and Kihyun pulling on his ears to make them look like Hoseok’s.

Deep into the night, fingers tangled as mischievous smiles promised a memorable night. Minhyuk was taking Hyungwon away, having robbed him away from his home after a sleepless night (Jooheon was not sleeping with Minhyuk tonight, as he’d been at his house all throughout last week, so Minhyuk was finding it difficult to sleep without him). 

“Are we getting the others?” Hyungwon whispered as they climbed over his gate. Minhyuk had trespassed into Hyungwon’s yard to retrieve him, tapping on the window of his bedroom to signal their escape. Minhyuk reached the top of the gate, and held out a hand to help Hyungwon. “No!” Minhyuk grinned. “Hoseok’s working till dawn and Changkyun told me not to bother him.”

“Jooheon?” Hyungwon accepted Minhyuk’s hand, and made it over the top of the gate. 

“He and Kihyun are sleeping. I tried to throw rocks at the window, but Kihyun’s mom saw me, so I ran away!” Minhyuk giggled. 

“I hate Kihyun’s mom.” Hyungwon shivered, and the two made their way down from the gate. “What about Hyunwoo?”

They jumped from the gate, feet thudding as heavy shoes hit the floor. Minhyuk grabbed Hyungwon’s hand again, and the two ran off. As they were running, Minhyuk responded, “He’s watching Hyujin and Hyunseok!”

“Where are we going?” Hyungwon’s whispers grew into a louder tone of voice as they ran further and further from his house. 

“To have fun!” Minhyuk promised, and Hyungwon felt his heart clench at the thought of a full night between him and Hyungwon. It’d be the two of them till the morning broke, and Hyungwon never knew something like that could make his heart jump into his throat. His face itched as it started to heat up, cheeks growing red. 

Minhyuk had taken them to a massive building, looming stories high above their heads. Looking like it was built of pure glass, the city lights reflected on the windows, red, blue and white mixing to make a distorted idea of Seoul city. 

“What is this place?” Hyungwon tugged on Minhyuk’s hand.

“It’s an idol building!” Minhyuk grinned. “We’re gonna go in!”

“Go in?” Hyungwon choked. “You’re not serious! Isn’t this like, the last idol company around anyways? The idol industry’s going out of business! How are we supposed to break into the only idol building?!”

“Shh!” Minhyuk hushed, and pulled Hyungwon down to hide behind a bush. Two pairs of eyes peered out from over the leaves, and they caught a sight of somebody that looked like authority. A fat man with little hair decked out in a thick, black suit, being followed by old guys and young security guards with narrow eyes. They laughed, and Minhyuk winced at the ugly manner they seemed to laugh. They spoke of things like money and luck as the body guards escorted them into big cars, and both Minhyuk and Hyungwon had grown tense at the sight.

“I hate old guys.” Hyungwon muttered. “Especially ones like him. He looks weird.”

“Old rich guys are bastards.” Minhyuk shook his head. The two stood up together as the cars drove off, and Minhyuk shook his head. “Let’s go in!”

Breaking in was surprisingly easy. The door was ajar, as the body guards had been too busy being escorts to properly lock up, and Minhyuk and Hyungwon slipped in with ease. Almost a little too easily; nobody was standing guard at the lobby, and there were no secretaries at the desk to greet them. In fact, the first floor was almost vacant.  
“This is weird.” Hyungwon’s eyes darted around the white room. “Minhyuk, should we go? There’s no body here at all…”

“No way!” Minhyuk shook his head. “I wanna see the practice rooms!”

The two had no issues with trying to creep around, because nobody was watching. They took the elevator and spoke of the riches and fun idols must have in their life, and when they got off on the second floor, they found it was vacant too. There was a row of rooms, and Mihyuk excitedly rattled each door- only to find the rooms inside were empty too. There was one room Hyungwon discovered, and it was a costume room. The boys laughed as they tried on flashy idol clothes and put on waist bands and bondage belts they saw idols wear on television long ago.

“Should we just rob these clothes?” Minhyuk said with a smile. “I only have my school clothes to wear and pijamas.” 

“I’ll give you all my old clothes.” Hyungwon told him. “Let’s leave these for the idols. They only have one costume room…”

“Maybe they’re moving buildings?” Minhyuk suggested.

“Don’t idols have recording booths?” Hyungwon’s eyes shimmered. “Let’s find one!”

Minhyuk had forgotten Hyungwon liked to sing. He had a pretty voice to match with his beautiful face, and whenever he sang, Minhyuk found himself singing along. Their friends were filled with all sorts of talents, Minhyuk told Hyungwon as they rode elevators and searched floors for practice rooms and recording booths. Jooheon and Changkyun learned how to hack in first year- “I remember!” Hyungwon laughed. “They’d always be in the computer room trying to hack into the teacher’s computers to change their grades!”-, and the two seemed like they were gods of rap. Hyunwoo was the best dancer Minhyuk and Hyungwon had ever seen, Kihyun hit high notes like nobody else could, and Hoseok had a pretty voice and a skill for producing music. 

“We could be idols.” Minhyuk suggested. “We’d make some good money, right?”

“We’re trespassing in our future company building.” Hyungwon looked at Minhyuk in disappointment. 

“Never!” Minhyuk gasped. “We’re just looking because we’re interested!”

Finally, they found a recording booth. Though neither had any idea how to work it or turn anything on, they felt pretty cool putting on headphones and singing into those weird microphones. They held hands as they ran off, giggling ecstatically and stumbling into each other. 

“It’s a dance room!” Minhyuk coughed, unable to speak through his fits of laughter. “Let’s go in!”

“Did you know I’m a great dancer?” Hyungwon said to Minhyuk as he locked the door. Minhyuk, wandering around the spacious dance room, smiled back at Hyungwon. “Yep! You break it down with Hyunwoo and Hoseok whenever you get the chance.”

“Let’s dance!” Hyungwon whispered, and Minhyuk hugged him in his excitement. “What music is there?”

“I think we’re seriously luck today.” Hyungwon pointed to a stereo, plugged into the wall and with an IPod waiting patiently to be played. 

They danced, sweat and laughed, pushing and shoving each other as they tried to show each other their dance skills. Once they got tired, they sat with their backs to the massive mirror, smiling at each other and talking about how fun it’d be if everybody was with them. 

“Hoseok could’ve ran the recording booth for us.” Hyungwon murmured, chest heaving as he caught his breath. Minhyuk chuckled, and turned his head to Hyungwon, about to say something. But Hyungwon’s face caught him off guard- the words forming in his mouth stuck in his throat before he could say anything. Sweat formed on the curve of his eyebrow, his tan cheekbones shining with a fine layer of moisture. Long eyelashes batted as he stared at his hands, thick lips moving as he spoke words Minhyuk couldn’t hear. Minhyuk was suddenly reminded of nights ago, memories of Hyungwon’s slender fingertips tickling Minhyuk’s skin. Barely touching, barely feeling. 

“Minhyuk?” Hyungwon tilted his head, and caught Minhyuk’s intense stare. Hyungwon’s heart caught up with his running thoughts, and he brought his legs closer to him. Minhyuk leaned in closer to him.

“Touch my face.” Minhyuk breathed.

“What?” Hyungwon coughed, eyes wide enough to fall out of his head. “I…” 

Minhyuk’s hands brushed against Hyungwon’s. “You were trying… To feel my face that night, right?”

“What night?” Hyungwon’s face was positively flushed. He wasn’t sure if he should move, or if he really wanted to move away. His heart was beating so fast, head hurting so badly that he didn’t have a chance to recall any night or time or day. All he could think about was how close Minhyuk was to his face.

“Do you like me?” Minhyuk whispered, studying Hyungwon’s reddened face. He kept inching closer, their noses brushing. Hyungwon let out a strangled whine, head thudding against the mirror behind him. “Or were you checking for a fever?”

“Minhyuk, you’re too close.” Hyungwon groaned, hands twitching in desperation. 

“Let’s kiss, Hyungwon.” Minhyuk’s eyes were frozen on Hyungwon’s lips. Hyungwon’s unsteady breathing, the dim light of the practice room, the rhythmic thump of music, the sweat on the sides of Hyungwon’s lips were all factors promoting the intensity of Minhyuk’s feelings, and all factors against Hyungwon’s poor heart. “We should really kiss.”

Hyungwon put his arms around Minhyuk’s shoulders. Minhyuk, feeling his stomach clench with odd feelings at the hold of the boy, couldn’t kiss him. He pressed a tender kiss into Hyungwon’s neck, to which Hyungwon shivered and groaned, and put his face into his collarbone, letting his hands slide under Hyungwon’s shirt, fingers press into his hips.

“Hyungwon.” Minhyuk called, kissing his collarbone. Hyungwon’s hips twitched in Minhyuk’s grasp, and any other additional details would be too sexual to reveal. Suddenly, the heated moment was broken. Out of nowhere, Hyungwon heard and elevator ding, and Minhyuk’s ears were not mistaken when he heard approaching footsteps. “Oh shit!” Minhyuk hissed, and the boys looked at each other with red faces. 

“Get in the closet!” Hyungwon ushered, and the two scrambled as quickly as they could into the cramped space of the closet. They climbed in, pressed against each other, and shut the closet’s door just in time for the dance room’s door to open. Above them, idol costumes and smelly shirts hung, but neither noticed since Hyungwon was sat between Minhyuk’s legs and Minhyuk’s nose was pressing into Hyungwon’s neck.

“Who was in here last?” It was a sweet voice asking a rough question.

“Don’t know. Leave the lights on, the boys might want to come in and practice later.” 

The door opened and shut again, and Minhyuk and Hyungwon were safe.

They ran off. Hand in hand, they took the stairs to make sure nobody saw them, and Minhyuk had a near meltdown when he realized he left his hair pin in the practice room. They made it outside, but were quickly chased into the bushes again when they saw the elevator doors opening beyond the tinted glass of the main entrance door.

A group of idol boys poured out. Dangling earrings swaying beside their jaw lines, pretty eyes and brightly colored heads of hair with eyebrows thick enough to look real, the boys were all sobbing. They held onto each other, looking as though they might collapse. A body guard, looking identical to the ones Hyungwon and Minhyuk had seen earlier, escorted the boys to a big car like the old man’s big car. Though Minhyuk and Hyungwon had run away before they saw the boys get in the car, and gave no thought to why the idols were crying, the boys would not be seen on television again.

Beauty, like Changkyun’s butterflies, had depths of meaning. Jooheon, though shoes dirtied from walking Seoul’s streets from morning to evening, did not mind that life wasn’t as beautiful as he thought it to be. He’d known this since a young age. His earliest memories consisted of foster homes and old men looking for money from taking in children. Jooheon had no real memories of mother, or father, or anybody that cared about him. There was no beauty of mother, there was no beauty of home cooked meals, no beauty in little Jooheon playing or running or watching television late into Saturday mornings. He had no beauty, no perceptions of a beautiful life, and what little beautiful things he did have were not entirely his. What Jooheon _did_ have was a stolen Nintendo, two pairs of his school uniform he kept in his backpack and washed at Kihyun or Minhyuk’s houses, a laptop he’d had since the beginning of time that he charged at nearby coffee shops, and a constant desire to write. Jooheon had rapped underground, had rapped with passerbyers on the streets, rapped in school talent shows and made some money by writing raps for smaller artists in need to look like they had some kind of talent. Always dirty, always hungry, there was no way for Jooheon to rap, just as there was no way for Hyunwoo to dance and Minhyuk to sing, but Jooheon did what he could to keep one of his only beauties in life alive. Changkyun was the same, Jooheon was sure, doing everything his friends thought were impossible. 

Life on the streets was not as bad as people made it out to be. It was always a little too hot, always way too cold, and there were always times that Jooheon looked out at the river as he crossed the city’s bridges, but luckily for Jooheon, he was not completely alone. He hung out with cats on the curb, slept at friend’s houses and spent weekends with Hoseok, Haeji and Changkyun, and ate whatever he could find, or ate the bento boxes Kihyun had grown used to making him. And so long as Jooheon and Changkyun could hack into their teacher’s computers, they’d be able to graduate high school. Jooheon had come to believe he did not have it badly as other people he’d met living on the streets. He had beauty in his life- something the starving friends and little kids with dirty cheeks did not have. And that’s how Jooheon spent his days. Wishing for nothing more and nothing less, unsure of the coming future, and no way to know what was to come for Jooheon. At this rate, Jooheon had become aware, there was no chance rapping would be a career for him. There was no chance Jooheon, or any teenager, could graduate high school and have a steady life. Everybody had come to know this, one way or another.

Jooheon did not want to think of the future. In the future, his friends might split up. In the future, Changkyun might not be able to see butterflies in the same light. In the future, the beauties Jooheon’s life was thriving off of, had the possibility of no longer being with him. If Jooheon thought of the future too much, he’d realize that everything he found to be good in his life would rapidly become horrible. There was no point in trying to think of tomorrow. The only point of life, for anybody alive right now, was to think of what they’d eat today, what kinds of things they’d see if they went on a walk, when they’re gonna hang out with their friends. Jooheon understood that, and so did all of Korea. There was no way out of this, and no way to change it, so they had to live life on the brink of extinction.

Today was Sunday. School was tomorrow, and Jooheon was on the hunt to find his cat buddies he met up with in the afternoons. He crossed streets, turned corners, and found the place he’d usually find the two kittens.

He clicked his tongue a couple times, meowed to try and find them, and searched high and low for his cat friends. He frowned in confusion. His kittens hung out around here, and they never left the spot because the restaurant owner made it a habit to feed the little guys every day around one or two. Jooheon tried to get the restaurant owner to come out, but it looked like nobody was in. Jooheon stuck out his lip in confusion. “Maybe they’re wandering somewhere.” Jooheon muttered, but in his heart, he felt sad he couldn’t see his kittens today. 

As he made his way out of the alleyway with his face sulking, something caught his attention. Behind a couple of trash bags, a little tail stuck out. Jooheon’s face lit up. His kittens were just asleep! He called them, and bent down to investigate, moving aside trash bags and kicking away boxes to free his kittens.

But the boxes and trash bags and Jooheon sacrificing his hygiene was no help. Jooheon froze, mouth ajar at the sight. He stumbled backwards, eyebrows furrowing in his shock. His three little kittens were dead, bodies mangled and legs awkward as though somebody had done something terrible to them.

Beauty came in many forms. One of the most beautiful forms was the blossoming promise of love. Shy smiles, glimmering eyes, hands itching to touch each other, the smell in the sky a reminder of a thousand nights of fresh air and hopeful futures. Every period their friends went to, Minhyuk and Hyungwon ditched. They’d run off together, visit the roof top with shiny eyes, pushing each other against walls and pressing kisses to each other’s necks and cheeks, still too embarrassed to press their lips together, spent hours touching miles of skin with curious hands, unbuttoning shirts and pressing kisses there instead. At night, Hyungwon and Minhyuk snuck off together, hands slick against each other and faces red with the promise of a beautiful night yet to come. Their budding love perhaps reflected the life of Changkyun’s butterflies, the beauty of Hyunwoo’s love for his family, reflected on the way Hoseok worked all afternoon and all night to be able to give Haeji the smallest slice of a good life. If their love was a gift from the present, Jooheon would never be able to think of their future, because the love was too young, too untouchable to doubt it’s eternity. 

But as Changkyun had said, beauty only came through hardships. Tonight, Minhyuk and Hyungwon returned to Hyungwon’s house. Hyungwon had assured Minhyuk his dad was out of town, and the two could do whatever they want all night. Minhyuk had grown shy at the thought, laughing and asking if Hyungwon was thinking ridiculous things. But once the door locked, they chucked off their shoes and started unbuttoning shirts just as soon as they walked inside. 

“Hyungwon!” 

The boys jumped away from each other, and Minhyuk saw the furious face of Hyungwon’s father for the first time. Just as Minhyuk had imagined, he was a tall man, and looked a bit like Hyungwon, but he was no where near Hyungwon’s beauty.

“What the fuck are you doing back so late?” He snarled. Hyungwon, who had begun trembling in fear already, started to stutter. “Nothing. I mean, I thought you wouldn’t be home, so…”

“So what?” His father snapped, and Hyungwon slouched into himself, shoulders shivering. “So what boy?! What were you doing all this time? Why the hell are you unbuttoning your shirt, huh? Answer me!”

Hyungwon started crying. He cowered behind Minhyuk, who was having trouble trying to process anything that was happening. Protectively, he stood in front of Hyungwon, arm held out in case his father would get any closer.

“What?” His father, who had been yelling at Hyungwon from the staircase, was descending. “You think you gonna stop me from talking to my son? Fucking faggot. Get the hell out of my way before I break your ass in half.”

“Hyungwon, open the door.” Minhyuk muttered, and Hyungwon tried his best to comply to Minhyuk’s commands. Hands shaking, Hyungwon struggled to open the door, trembling as he desperately tried to undo the lock.

“Unlock that door and I fucking kill you!” His dad roared, and Hyungwon sobbed in fear. He collapsed onto the ground, unable to open the door. As his dad came nearer, he shoved Minhyuk aside and grabbed Hyungwon by the shirt. Horrified, Hyungwon thrashed and screamed in his hold. 

“Minhyuk!” He screamed, clawing at his dad’s hand. Minhyuk, frozen in place, could only watch as Hyungwon was thrown onto the floor. He scrambled to try and get up, but his father kicked him down. “Minhyuk!”

“You shut the hell up!” The sickening noise of bone against skin was all Minhyuk heard. Ears ringing, eyes pulsing with a rising fury, all Minhyuk could see was Hyungwon, his nose bleeding and eyes rounded with terror, staring at Minhyuk as he begged for him to help. Minhyuk had never felt anything like this before; but he supposed it’d go on the list of things he’d never felt before. Before he knew it, he was lunging towards Hyungwon’s father. His body crashed into Hyungwon’s father’s, and he knocked the man far from Hyungwon. Hyungwon cried and wailed, trying to get to Minhyuk before he could do anything else, but Minhyuk had other plans. He jumped to his feet, and fell on top of the older man. Before the guy could react, Minhyuk pulled back his elbow and delivered a nasty hit to his nose. Then, Minhyuk’s fist grew frantic, and he was beating the man’s face with malicious vigor. Beneath him, the man struggled and reached his hands up to try and fight back, but the most he could do was get a tight hold on Minhyuk’s jaw. Eventually, the man gathered enough strength to fight back, and knocked Minhyuk so hard in the jaw that he toppled to the side. Hyungwon crawled to his side, holding him close in case his father tried to get to him again. But his father, weak in the body with blood dripping from every part of his face, took two steps before falling to the ground. 

“Minhyuk!” Hyungwon cried, pulling Minhyuk into his chest. “Minhyuk, wake up!”

Minhyuk, who had not been hit as horribly as Hyungwon’s father had, stirred. He moved in Hyungwon’s arms, and looked up at his blood stained noise. Minhyuk grew progressively furious at the sight, and sighed heavily.

“Good thing I beat the shit out of that guy.” Minhyuk rasped, and with blood hands, wiped away the blood on Hyungwon’s nose with the dry pad of his thumb. 

“Minhyuk, why’d you do that?” Hyungwon wept, and Minhyuk smiled. He moved from wiping away the blood on Hyungwon’s nose to cradling Hyungwon’s cheek.

“Cos I love you.” Minhyuk told him, and leaned forwards. He pressed warm lips to Hyungwon’s burning hot lips, and once he pulled away, Hyungwon studied his face with a beautiful expression. Teary eyed and with a swollen face, he leaned to Minhyuk, and deepened their previous kiss. The kiss was wet, but it was beautiful.

The beach, with crashing waves and scenic views for pictures, was a beautiful spot to escape to. One weekend, the boys had Monday off, and bid their parents goodbye before piling into the train with bags full of clothes, a couple of folded tents and food to last them until Monday.  
“Did anybody bring sunscreen?” Kihyun asked, digging through his bag.

“Does anybody really burn though?” Jooheon asked, Changkyun sitting in his lap. 

“Hoseok does.” Changkyun pointed out. “He’s really white.”

“He’s more like honeydew.” Minhyuk remarked, sitting by the window in the set of seats across from his friends with Hyungwon sleeping on him and Hyunwoo sprawled out in the seat across from them. “I get really burnt some times. Hyunwoo doesn’t.”

“I think that’s obvious.” Kihyun sighed. “Hey, Minhyuk… Are you and Hyungwon really dating?”  
“Well…” Minhyuk blushed, looking out the window. “Yeah. I think so.”

Jooheon sighed loudly, looking out the window crossly. Changkyun looked at Jooheon and laughed. “This guy’s sulking!”

“Why?” Hoseok smiled. “Jooheon, did you like Minhyuk?”

“No!” Jooheon pouted. “No, but he said he liked me…”

“Are you jealous?!” Changkyun gasped, and Kihyun watched on with an amused smile. “It’s nice to be in love, Jooheon. Nothing wrong with it. Just don’t try to get in the way of Hyungwon and Minhyuk.” 

“I’m not!” Jooheon protested. “I’m not… But Minhyuk’s not sleeping in my tent.”

“There’s only two tents.” Hoseok sighed, still smiling.

They set up their tents at the beach, and Hyunwoo set up the grill Hyungwon had brought from home. Hoseok tossed Hyunwoo a couple of burger patties, and Hyunwoo had Jooheon help him set up to eat. In the meantime, Hoseok and Kihyun set up the tents together, and Minhyuk thought it to be a wonderful time to take off his clothes and run into the ocean with Changkyun on his back and Hyungwon running ahead of them.

“Hey!” Kihyun shouted. “You’re not gonna help?!”

“Those bums.” Jooheon grumbled. “Hyunwoo, don’t give them any burgers.”

“Okay.” Hyunwoo said blankly, the information coming in one ear and out the other. He was busy staring at the sky as he waited for his burgers to cook.

“What’s so interesting up there?” Jooheon complained, but Hyunwoo still wasn’t listening.

“Where are we gonna shower?” At night, one tent was for Hoseok, Changkyun and Jooheon, and the other had Kihyun, Hyunwoo, Minhyuk and Hyungwon packed in. The boys had grown exhausted form a long day of traveling and bid each other good night, leaving for their sleeping bags.

“Isn’t there showers on the beach or something?” Jooheon asked, laid in the middle of Hoseok and Changkyun, content with drawing an angry face in his notebook. “Kihyun brought a bunch of shampoo and soap and towels and stuff, so it probably means there’s a shower around here.”

“We should bathe in a waterfall.” Changkyun suggested, reading War & Peace for some absurd reason. 

“Changkyun, isn’t that book in English?” Hoseok asked, and Changkyun nodded. “My Dad spoke English to me, remember? I know it all.”

“I’m good at English too.” Jooheon piped in but Hoseok grew distracted, looking happily at Jooheon’s puppy patterned pajamas. “I hear I have a sister in America.”

“Maybe you have a nephew.” Changkyun said, and Jooheon put his pencil down at the thought of a nephew. “A nephew?”

“Jooheon, let’s get married.” Hoseok proposed, getting bored of twiddling his thumbs. 

“You’re gonna cheat on me with Changkyun. It’s gonna be what Minhyuk did to me all over again!” Jooheon complained, throwing his note book to the side. 

The next morning, Hoseok emerged from the ocean with a fish in either hand. The boys watched with red faces as Hoseok’s thick set of breasts glistened in the sun, muscles beneath his skin rippling as he dragged his feet out of the ocean and swim shorts hanging low beneath his v-line. “I caught some fish!” Hoseok called.

“I hate being straight.” Kihyun breathed, and Changkyun looked away to hide his nose bleeding.

They ate their fish in the morning, and the boys chucked away their clothes, excited to follow Hoseok into the water. Jooheon, Kihyun and Changkyun hovered around Hoseok, and often had their chins lifted and eyes low to see if Hoseok’s shorts would reveal something more than gorgeous abs. Hyungwon and Minhyuk splashed water on each other, and Minhyuk chased Hyungwon around the water with the threat of seaweed in his hands. Hyunwoo floated on his back, letting the waves take him to wherever he needed to be taken.

Later into the evening, Kihyun lead the pack of boys on a twenty minute trek up a hillside. 

“Where are we going?!” Jooheon shrieked, stomping his feet and kicking up sand. “Why am I walking up a freaking hill with no shoes?!”

“To take a shower.” Kihyun told him. Angry with the response, Jooheon groaned. Changkyun who was hand in hand with Hyunwoo, was ecstatic to find and point out every single rolly polly he saw. “Look!” Changkyun gasped after spotting the millionth rolly polly of the evening. “It’s a rolly polly!”

“I’m tired of looking at rolly pollies.” Hoseok complained. Minhyuk, who was making the journey with Hyungwon sleeping on his back, seemed to have no complaints, besides the look of death on his face from time to time. As they made their way up the hill through complaints and many fights between Kihyun and Jooheon, they finally arrived at flat lands. And then, Kihyun shouldered past a couple branches, and revealed a massive waterfall.

“Take your clothes off guys!” Kihyun smiled. “I found us a shower!”

“You knew it was here all along!” Jooheon accused. 

“Kihyun is always right! I told you guys to trust him!” Hoseok said, and shamelessly began to strip. Once Hoseok was naked, Changkyun almost fainted at the sight of his tight butt, and Kihyun looked away in jealousy at the sight of something more private. He ran happily into the water, unaware his friends had been staring. 

“I guess this is what it comes to.” Hyunwoo sighed, and took off his shirt.

“I’m scared of Hyunwoo’s dick.” Minhyuk confessed as he lowered the half awake Hyungwon onto the ground. “It’s too big. It’s like the size of his leg when he takes his boxers off.”

“How do you know what it looks like?” Hyungwon muttered sleepily, and the boys clamored with “Ooo’s”, at the confrontation. 

“I took a shower with him at my house once.” Minhyuk explained. He kissed Hyungwon briefly, and the ordeal was forgotten as a dreamy smile appeared on Hyungwon’s face.

“I hate romance.” Changkyun decided. As the boys started to chuck away their clothes, Kihyun, who was crouched down and sorting out towels and shampoo and conditioner to take with him, had the shock of his life. He screamed and fell back onto his butt, shocked at the sight of Hyunwoo’s bare body.

“What is that?!” Kihyun shrieked.

“What?” Hyunwoo blushed moving his legs together.

“Oh shit!” Changkyun gasped, attracted by the commotion. “Do you kill people with that thing?!”

Jooheon put his hands over his head, falling to the floor in nothing but boxers and shame. Hyungwon’s mouth fell open, and Minhyuk shook his head. “See what I told you guys? It’s like a beast.”

“Stop looking!” Hyunwoo whined, and shuffled awkwardly into the water.

“Jesus christ!” Hoseok shouted from the other side of the waterfall. “It’s like a boa constrictor!”

“I don’t even wanna see it when he walks.” Minhyuk, naked now too, waded into the water. “Does it hit against your thigh whenever you walk, Hyunwoo?”

“Now I know why he’s had five million girlfriends.” Changkyun sighed, walking with Jooheon into the water. 

“I don’t wanna go into the water now.” Hyungwon said as he jumped in. “The tip’s probably just gonna pop up and take a bath with us.”

Minhyuk, choking on his laughter, moved to Hyungwon and hugged his waist.

“That’s why we’ve never seen any of his girlfriends!” Hoseok called, swimming towards his friends. “It killed them all!” As Hoseok approached, Changkyun stood close to him, and reached a hand into the water to grab his butt. Hoseok laughed, and grabbed Changkyun’s butt in return.

“What are you guys talking about… It’s not big…” Hyunwoo protested, sinking into the water. 

“Kihyun is still alive.” Jooheon pointed out.

“Yoo Kihyun is like a solider. Respect.” Hyungwon nodded, and saluted Kihyun as he walked into the water with an armful of bottles of shampoo and conditioner. Kihyun laughed. “I’m the only one alive. My asshole isn’t.”

“I’m not dating Kihyun!” Hyunwoo groaned. “Stop talking before I beat you guys up!”

“Hyunwoo is my dad, Kihyun is my mom. Mom, throw me the shampoo!” Jooheon said, and Kihyun tossed him the shampoo. 

Their second day on the beach came to an end, and their last night was being spent making s’mores near a bonfire. Tomorrow afternoon, they’d get on a train back home, and their beach adventure would end. The s’mores were an American snack that Jooheon had found online in an English article, which Changkyun had translated for them. They were fascinated, and decided it would be a great idea to put marshmallows on sticks and roast them until they melted. As the night fell, Hyunwoo collected wood as Hoseok proved he was useless in chopping fire wood. Hoseok started the fire once the wood was gathered, and the clean and happy boys were left to cooking their marshmallows. Hyungwon sat with Minhyuk, the two exchanging god knows how many kisses as their marshmallows burned.

“They’re so gross.” Jooheon groaned. “Why’d you guys have to start dating now of all times? We’re about to graduate. If you gross me out too much, I won’t hack the teacher’s computer.”

“You’re just jealous.” Minhyuk stuck out his tongue. Hyungwon kissed Minhyuk’s cheek, enamored by his tongue.

“I don’t know about you,” Hoseok tossed a marshmallow into his mouth, unable to wait for them to cook and eat a whole s’more. “But I think it’s pretty romantic that Minhyuk fought for him and kissed him right afterwards. How manly is that?”

“Pretty manly.” Kihyun nodded. “Manlier than Hyunwoo.”

“There is one manly trait about Hyunwoo!” Changkyun stuck up his index finger, as though he were presenting a genius idea. “And it’s his snake!”

“It could wrap around the whole world if it was hard.” Jooheon shook his head. “Hyunwoo, don’t be too hard on Kihyun, okay?”

“I’m not dating him!” Hyunwoo sighed. “And stop talking about my- my thing! You guys are annoying.”

“Hyunwoo, I sewed your swim shorts.” Kihyun said as he approached, coming from the tents to the bonfire by the shore. He sat on the towel Hyunwoo was sitting on and showed him his shorts, now sewed up. “You rip everything you wear! I should just be rich and buy you everything.”

The boys laughed, and Hyunwoo put his head into his hands. Hoseok suddenly sighed, onto a fourth attempt of trying to survive cooking his marshmallow. “I wish I could fall in love.” Hoseok said. “I never have any time to flirt with anyone. Or ask them on dates. I just go to school and go to work. I’m barely home enough to raise Haeji.”

“You’ve already raised her.” Changkyun nudged him. “She’s smart and pretty. All her morals are the best too. She’s got all of the best of you, Hoseok.”

“I hope she does.” Hoseok shook his head. “I wish there was somebody to kiss though, you know? I wanna fight for somebody too.”

“Just kiss me.” Jooheon waved off Hoseok’s wishes. “I don’t care anymore. I’m volunteering to be everybody’s cum sock.”

“Ewww!” The boys groaned at Jooheon’s nasty revelation. Hyunwoo flicked him on the head, and Hyungwon stretched his leg and kicked him as a response.

“Crazy ass kid.” Hyungwon grumbled, and glared at Jooheon.

“Anyways, Hoseok,” Kihyun shook his head. “We’re getting out of high school soon. Graduation’s coming really fast, you know? You’ll have a lot of time to fall in love once school’s over.”

“I hope I will.” Hoseok hung his head. “Aggh! I feel so lonely!”

“Hoseok, didn’t you have a boyfriend?” Minhyuk asked as he rubbed Hoseok’s back. “Why’d you guys break up?”

“They dated all of first year, huh?” Hyunwoo remarked. “What was his name? I can’t remember it…”

“Jinseok? Seokji? What was it?” Kihyun thought aloud, and Hoseok smiled. “Jooseok. Jooheon didn’t like him because Joo was in his name. You guys met him a bunch of times!”

“Yeah! He was so handsome!” Hyungwon remarked, recalling the times Hoseok brought him around to eating out or to Minhyuk’s house. “Cute guy. I didn’t like him either though. He always looked at me weird.”

“He was weird. He tried stealing money from me, so I broke up with him.” Hoseok sighed deeply. “Maybe I shouldn’t have.”

“You cried so much when you guys broke up!” Hyunwoo bursted. “How dare that bastard! You wouldn’t even tell us why you broke up because you were so embarrassed! That’s why you didn’t tell us, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.” Hoseok confessed. “Damn. Damn, damn, damn…”

“Good. That guy’s a jackass.” Jooheon said as he built his s’more with great concentration. “Just date one of us. If we break up, we’re still homies, right? Hyungwon, Minhyuk?”

“I’ll marry Hyungwon!” Minhyuk declared, and Hyungwon giggled happily. The two had been flirting the whole time, so any remnants of cooking a marshmallow had melted away on their sticks.

“Hoseok, you’re gay?” Changkyun asked, and Hoseok shook his head. “I don’t know. I like everybody.”

“No gender preference?” Changkyun went on.

“Nope. Only… they just need to make good ramen.” Hoseok nodded, happy with his answer. “Jooseok made the best. But I’m sure there’s other good ramen cooks out there too.”

“That’s the spirit!” Jooheon cheered, and Hyunwoo gave his friend a thumbs up.

“You’ll find love, Hoseokie!” Changkyun felt a burst of affection. He tossed his marshmallow aside, and knocked into Hoseok. 

“What about you guys?” Jooheon blinked at Hyunwoo and Kihyun. “Wanna find any love?”

“I want a very cute girlfriend.” Kihyun scratched at his chin. “Big beautiful eyes too. Someone who looks like a baby.”

“So Hyunwoo’s out of the picture?” Jooheon joked, and Kihyun laughed. “I divorce him first then find my perfect girl.”

“Somebody quiet.” Hyunwoo said, eyes pained as he watched Minhyuk, Hoseok, Hyungwon and Changkyun scream at each other while rolling on the floor. “A girl that’s really… really quiet…”

“Don’t think she’ll be quiet when you whip out that monster.” Jooheon said, biting into his s’more. “She’s gonna call the cops. Then file for a law suit.”

“That’s why he wants somebody really quiet.” Kihyun nudged Hyunwoo. “So that she doesn’t complain when she goes to the hospital.”

After cleaning up and heading back to their tents, Hyungwon and Minhyuk started making out by the shore after going to play in the ocean, and the rest of the boys retreated inside their tents. Jooheon, miserable by that point, sat through Hoseok in Changkyun’s sleeping bag. The two giggled as Hoseok whispered things into Changkyun’s ear, lifting up his shirt and touching his waist. Hoseok must’ve thought he was being very discreet, because when Jooheon demanded them to shut up, Hoseok and Changkyun both looked at him with innocent gazes. 

“I’m leaving this place.” Jooheon got his pillow and his notebook, and left Hoseok and Changkyun to have fun for tonight. He barged into Hyunwoo’s tent, and Kihyun looked up in surprise. “Jooheon!”

“Changkyun and Hoseok are having sex.” Jooheon said grumpily. Kihyun zipped open his sleeping bag, and Jooheon climbed in with him. 

“Mom, look!”

“Mom, I made this for you!”

“Mom, do I look handsome?”

Mom nodded blankly. Her eyes stared blandly into the distance, no emotions detectable on her vacant face. She forgot to feed Kihyun sometimes, so Kihyun learned how to make a sandwich when he was four. When he was a kid, he went so hungry that he learned how to cook all together. Mom didn’t work- Kihyun’s dad worked for the government, but that was all Kihyun’s mom would ever tell him. He was never home. Kihyun had always presumed she was sad without her husband, and these days sad because she worked for the government, so that’s why she never paid much attention to Kihyun. Even when Kihyun was a little kid, and he managed to squeeze some attention out of her, her eyes would grow clouded when she saw Kihyun’s happy face and walnut chin, and she’d cringe in disgust at the sight of her son. Kihyun, as a result, grew up lonely. Mom never took him out to play with the other boys, mom never played with Kihyun herself, and she barely had any colors or paper or toys or anything for Kihyun to occupy himself. She’d open the back door, and let Kihyun talk to the worms and the trees while she locked herself away in her room. 

Kihyun could never quite understand why his mom didn’t seem to like him, so he was always inventing any excuse he could to make up for her questionable acts. But the excuses never sufficed, and the affection he never gained he made up for in his friends. He sewed Hyunwoo’s clothes, he let Jooheon sleep over whenever he liked, he cooked fresh meals for Hoseok and gave Minhyuk clothes he didn’t like anymore, tended to any of Hyungwon’s wounds and played with Changkyun whenever he felt like it. It was a distraction from his mother, and the bleak prison his house seemed to be whenever he stepped foot inside. A prison in the sense of Kihyun’s trapped heart. He felt a responsibility for his mother, a feeling he could not shake, a feeling that told him her sadness was his fault, and not anyone else’s. He cooked for her, he sewed any tears in her clothes, and checked on her when she was in her room for too long. Kihyun’s heart became heavy when he couldn’t look after his mother; the guilt weighing down on him would only become heavier. He couldn’t escape his feelings, and no matter how badly he wanted to hate his mother, how much he wanted to see her as a complete stranger, he couldn’t. Kihyun wasn’t sure what his mother’s voice even sounded like, but he knew he’d be torn apart if he stopped seeing her as his mother.

So that’s what he did. At the end of the day, he stepped into his empty house, void of decorations and consisting purely of bleak walls and a sofa with a television, a kitchen with a table and an empty set of rooms both downstairs and upstairs. At the end of the day, Kihyun left his beautiful life to become his mother’s son.

Today was different. Kihyun came back from the beach, the happy memories lingering in his mind and bringing on a smile. “Mom, I’m home!” Kihyun shouted, throwing his bag on the couch. “Should I cook some ramen, Mom?” He hummed. Though he never got any responses, there was something different about today. As he toed his shoes off, he noticed that the house was even more empty than usual. “Mom?”

He searched the house for her, but she was no where to be found. Not in the bathroom, not in the bedroom, not in the kitchen, not in the backyard, not in the garage. After searching and worrying his lip, he stopped when he saw a sticky note. Brightly colored, looking innocent against the dreary walls of Kihyun’s home, there were characters written on orange paper sticking to Kihyun’s door.

_Mom won’t be home for a long time._  
_I left money on your bed. Goodbye._

Kihyun wiped his eyes. The note was soaked in his tears, and snot was hanging from his nose. Carefully, he set the smudged paper neatly back onto his door, and tried to compose himself. But slowly, the paper peeled away from his wall, and floated onto the floor, blackened  
Korean characters staring back up at Kihyun’s weeping face.

The beautiful sanctuary of school would no longer belong to the boys. The day came where the seven of them would have to bid their farewells to the massive school, the rooftop and the cafeteria, classrooms and classmates, all to embark on a greater quest. That quest was facing the rest of their lives, without the years long comfort of teachers and permanent classmates. Hoseok took selfies with the cafeteria lady, and she kissed his cheek goodbye. Jooheon took a selfie with the one and only third year teacher he enjoyed torturing so much, and the boys gathered on the rooftop one last time for a final, life long memory. They took a picture- Kihyun making bunny ears on Hoseok, Hoseok looking handsome, Hyunwoo who forgot to smile, Changkyun and Jooheon fake-barfing on each other, and Hyungwon and Minhyuk kissing in the photo. They each received their graduation photos, and received a graduation photo of all of them together, and gave all sorts of hugs and kisses to their classmates and teachers. 

Finally, school was out. Graduation robes tossed and notebooks thrown to the sky, the boys laughed as they ran off, papers fluttering behind them and the clamor of former students and families following the seven boys out. They mixed with the crowd- school uniforms beneath graduation robes, bright faces and teary eyes. Arms around each other, hands holding hands, and kisses being given and received, the boys trekked home with backpacks on their shoulders one final time, taking what they thought would be their last walk home from school.

When the boys recalled their glory days with fond eyes and affectionate smiles, Hyungwon’s eyes would shimmer. He’d say that that school was theirs, and they’d grown up beautifully beneath it’s generous roof.


	2. Trespass

Beauty in the sense of freedom.

The beauty of life.

Beauty in the way Hyungwon was drooling just a lot. 

The beauty of themselves.

The meaning behind beauty; what it takes to make something beautiful.

Blue butterflies with stiff wings gliding in the wind, and wet kisses that were beautiful nonetheless. 

One year had passed since their goodbyes to a place full of their beautiful memories; and that one year had gone by with pure struggle. Hoseok picked up three jobs, and though he applied for millions of full time jobs with salaries above minimum wage, it seemed that no companies were accepting. Hyunwoo, Minhyuk, Kihyun, Jooheon and Changkyun had gone to work too- Changkyun to support Hoseok, Jooheon to try and find himself and Kihyun a home, Minhyuk to feed his brother and Hyunwoo to feed his family. They scoured for jobs high and low, but employment rates had plummeted, and even part time jobs were a struggle to find.

They did what they could. Changkyun started tutoring kids, and it would’ve made a fine amount of money if schools were still running- just last month, the government had announced they’d be putting the education system on pause, to think about “reforms” in the education of the children. Changkyun’s only hope of making money was with a couple of rich kid parents who wanted their kids to get an education. But, since rich kids were from government official parents, Changkyun only had two students. 

Hyunwoo worked with cars at a mechanic shop. Business was slow though, and when Hoseok had tried to join in with Hyunwoo, he discovered that the income was not enough to feed Haeji and Changkyun, and went back to struggling with part time jobs. It seemed cars had gone out of style- as the days progressed, the noise in the streets of Seoul diminished by the hour. 

Minhyuk and Kihyun started putting flyers around for singing lessons. It was one of the only professions out of all the boys that made at least a little bit of money- government officials did still want their kids to get busy, so Minhyuk and Kihyun had five or four rich kid students who gave them a steady amount of tuition. 

Jooheon was the other party with a decent profession. He worked on computers for a good amount of time, and though it made okay money, Jooheon became a hacker for hire. Changkyun had joined him after a bit, and the two were given freelance money for all sorts of crazy shit. Jooheon often received strange requests for big money asking to hack into security cameras in hotels, or open up computer cameras to spy on girls in their rooms- whenever this happened, Jooheon tracked the client’s IP address and went to their houses for a “talk”. Changkyun, now a tutor and a part time hacker, would back up Jooheon during these “talks”, a bat or a couple of mechanical pencils always in hand. 

Hyungwon, to Minhyuk’s dismay, was forced to stay home on his father’s orders. His dad, a government worker himself, was shaping him up to work for the government, and refused to let Hyungwon get jobs with common people. 

“What’d you learn today?” Minhyuk would ask him, kissing his cheek fondly.

Hyungwon would put his arms around Minhyuk’s neck, tilt his head, and say; “I don’t remember.” It made Minhyuk so happy that every time Hyungwon said it, he’d receive a kiss on the lips. 

Meanwhile, the world fell around them. Their iridescent bubble had yet to pop; the long ago heart broken boys turned blind eyes to the struggles of the world, tunneling their vision to only care about their families and each other. But they knew it was happening. Hoseok saw it in the way Haeji’s hands were beginning to thin, and Minhyuk realized it when he couldn’t afford to buy apple juice. Hyunwoo did not need the news to figure out his family still could not be fed, and didn’t need Twitter to see how his pay was dropping dramatically from month to month. 

Beyond prices and starvation, as the mornings passed, the streets grew ugly. One morning, maybe after a hundred or so mornings had passed, Changkyun stepped out of the house with Haeji and was taken aback. The house next door was completely destroyed by what seemed like water damage, the streets torn apart with pot holes and cracks, leaving only dust and dirt and a vague recollection of what the street once looked. 

“When did this happen?” Changkyun muttered to Haeji. 

The world grew ugly with the streets; children who could not continue school were helplessly put to work to try and ease dire situations, teenagers with no future ahead of them topped Korean suicide rates to an alarming max, and the population, with an unsure future, was dropping dangerously. Couples didn’t want kids with no futures, nobody wanted to marry when life seemed so bleak,and people didn’t want to immigrate to a ruined country. The money made from tourism vanquished, the idol industry gone, face masks and beauty products missing- The Korean Wave which had gone so far had come crashing back onto the country. 

Why? The boys didn’t want to know why. Hyungwon could only assume it had something to do with their late president’s death all those years ago. 

“Couldn’t you work for music production, Hoseok?” Jooheon asked, falling onto Hoseok’s couch. Barging into Hoseok’s cramped home after work was a deeply loved tradition, and Haeji, who was madly in love with all her big brothers friends, didn’t mind at all either. She hovered around Hyunwoo and Kihyun as much as she could, effectively making Changkyun and Hoseok jealous. 

“Haeji gets prettier by the day.” Kihyun crooned, and Haeji blushed.

“No I don’t!” She giggled and twirled her hair. “Hoseok is the handsome one.”

“Oh? But I think you’re prettier!” Kihyun gave her a walnut chin smile, and all their friends made ugly faces trying to copy his chin. 

“I wish I could work in music production.” Hoseok sighed. “Kihyun and I wanted to work in lab research for a while.”

“You two are geniuses.” Minhyuk nodded. “Just like Kkungkkung. Solved the most complex math problems known to man.”

“This country gets more like North Korea by the day though.” Hoseok shook his head, looking angry. Changkyun, who had his head on Hoseok’s lap, laughed at his remark. “All the paychecks are starting to look the same. Capitalism is just being replaced by communism.”

“I know!” Jooheon agreed enthusiastically. “It’s what I’ve always thought! I don’t even doubt the countries will unify again.”

“I’ll never unify with North Korea.” Hoseok declared patriotically.

“You just said we’re becoming like North Korea though!” Minhyuk pointed out, and Hoseok stubbornly shook his head. “We are still better than them.”

“What a patriot.” Hyungwon admired. He gave Hoseok a thumbs up, and everybody followed suite. “This country would be lost without you, Hoseok.”

“Hey!” Changkyun barked at Kihyun. “Are you done flirting with Haeji?”

“I’m not flirting!” Kihyun’s eyebrows raised to his hairline, as though he were shocked at the accusation. “I’m just talking to Haeji!”

“I’m getting jealous.” Changkyun’s eyes narrowed. “Haeji, what’s wrong with you? Do you like breaking my heart like this? Why can’t you just choose me?”

“I did choose you!” Haeji blurted out, pretty face growing red. “But you always hang out around Hoseok instead! So that’s why I moved on!”

“I am not hanging around Hoseok!” Changkyun rebuked as his friends burst into laughter at Haeji’s statement. “I don’t!”

“I never forgot that night at the beach.” Jooheon muttered darkly, scooting away from Hoseok and Changkyun at the memory. 

“I think nobody forgot that night at the beach.” Hyunwoo grimaced. 

“We came back from the ocean, what, maybe an hour later?” Hyungwon said, head resting between Minhyuk’s legs as he sat on the floor. “And we could hear everything from the shore.”

“Hear what?!” Haeji, whose face was redder than Changkyun and Hoseok’s combined, stuttered. “What did you hear?!”

“All of you shut up!” Hoseok wailed, and Kihyun covered Haeji’s ears. Quietly, Kihyun mouthed with amusement in his eyes; “Changkyun bottomed.”

Coming to the one year mark as we mentioned before, January starts with Hoseok working at a construction site, giving up his part time jobs after finding a full time one. A salary that barely got him by was not enough to support a family, but it was enough to pay for Haeji to eat. The sun, blistering in the middle of winter, gleamed in Hoseok’s eyes, blinding him and beading ropes of sweat on his forehead. 

“What’s the sky saying, Hoseok?” A coworker yelled.

“Saying that it’s time to eat.” Hoseok said miserably, wiping the sweat from his brow. “Should we just finish the building and get to eating?”

“Buildings far from done.” His coworker called. “We’ve got a roof to build. It’ll take a day or two before we can eat, if that’s what you want.”

Hoseok took off his helmet, damp hair matted against his forehead. “No.... I want food sooner than that.”

“Your boyfriend’s here with some food.” His coworker teased. “Looks like he brought your daughter.”

“My boyfriend?” Hoseok thought about what that could mean for a moment. Then, he remembered Changkyun brought lunch around for Hoseok every day. “Oh! Changkyun?”

“With the big nose.” His coworker nodded, and Hoseok caught up with him as they walked towards the break room. “He’s real handsome. But you better keep it on the low. The government’s looking to outlaw homos again.”

“What?!” Hoseok’s face dropped. Minhyuk and Hyungwon flashed in his mind, and for a second, his heart squeezed with intensity. “You’re kidding!” 

His coworker laughed. “It’s a hard life for all of us.” He said, and opened the door to the break room. Hoseok stepped inside, heart heavy as he thought of his coworkers news. 

“I got your man.” The coworker said to somebody, and when Hoseok looked up, he saw Changkyun’s cross face and a brown bag in his hands, Haeji beside him. 

“I got you a shirt!” Haeji smiled. Hoseok pet her head and kissed her cheek. “Does my sweat really destroy all my shirts?”

“Kind of.” Haeji laughed, and looked at Hoseok’s soaked tank top. “I feel like it’ll melt off if I touch it.”

“We put it to wash but it comes out stiff anyways.” Changkyun snorted, and handed Hoseok his lunch. Hoseok smiled, and kissed Changkyun sweetly on the cheek.

“What’s wrong with you?!” Changkyun pushed him away, and Hoseok laughed. “My coworker said you’re my boyfriend!” 

“No need to hide it. I don’t discriminate.” He said from the other side of the room. 

Changkyun glared at Hoseok. Haeji interrupted the tension by handing Hoseok his shirt, and the mini family sat down at one of the wonky tables. Hoseok unpacked his containers of food, unaware of Changkyun’s angry, mortified glare. 

“Seok, why do you bother wearing clothes?” Haeji asked, eating some of Hoseok’s eggs. “Your nipples are always showing. Just be naked all the time.”

“Why do you bother wearing clothes, Haeji?” Hoseok sniffed. “Just be naked all the time. Go into stores shirtless.”

“I can’t!” Haeji protested.

“Why not?” Hoseok said through a mouthful of rice.

“Because society is cruel.” Haeji sighed, and Changkyun furiously wiped off the grains of rice on the corner of Hoseok’s lips. “You eat like you’re gonna die.”

“Something needs to make up for the size of my arms.” Hoseok said dramatically, flexing his handsome arms. It was reasonable, to tell the truth; Hoseok’s arm was twice the size of Changkyun’s, and the size of Haeji’s entire head. He was sort of a massive guy, and his muscles had only swelled over the past year thanks to make shift pull up bars and work out equipment set up around his miniature house. 

“Hey, you know what Minhyuk said?” Changkyun suddenly lightened up. “He’s thinking of visiting the school with Hyungwon. He was talking to Jooheon and me about it.” 

“Wait, our high school?” Hoseok’s eyebrows raised, but he did not stop eating. “Isn’t it completely shut off? My boss said the higher ups are demolishing it for some base or whatever.”

“Completely shut off.” Changkyun confirmed. “But Jooheon hates the cops anyways, so he won’t mind fighting a couple if we find any around the school.”

“How are we getting in?” Hoseok put his spoon down.

Changkyun grinned. “We trespass.” 

Trespassing was somewhat illegal, but the boys were somewhat illegal too. Compared to the long list of Changkyun and Jooheon’s cyber crimes and the amounts of gas stations the boys had robbed, breaking and entering seemed somewhat harmless. In broad daylight, Minhyuk and Hyungwon awaited their friends at the front of the school.

“We’re going inside during the day?” Hyunwoo frowned.

“Hyungwon said his dad will cover for us!” Jooheon said cheerfully. “That idiot bastard is still a good for nothing.” 

“We’re seriously relying on Hyungwon’s dad to save us from breaking into government property?” Hyunwoo sighed.

“It’s not government property!” Hyungwon said. “My dad didn’t even know this building was under their care. It’s just sort of, one of those forgotten buildings, you know? They say they’re gonna do something but they just forget.”

“Didn’t they move all government offices to Busan?” Hoseok, sitting on the ground, called out. “Maybe that’s why no work’s been done here.” 

“It’s still infested with cops here though.” Jooheon cringed, as though the mention of police officers made him shrivel inside. “Right when you leave the neighborhood and head into richer areas, there’s military stationed everywhere.”

“Bastard cops.” Changkyun muttered his agreement, looking up at the building as he shielded his eyes with a flat hand. 

“Cop hatred is strong today.” Kihyun smiled. “Well, come on guys! How do we break into this thing?”

“I think we just open the gate.” Minhyuk scratched his nose. “There’s no lock or anything. I rattled on it and it just sort of... opened...”

“I told you they don’t care about this place!” Hyungwon said proudly. 

The visit back to school brought smiles to everybody’s worn faces. Hoseok’s eyes lit up at the influx of memories- ex girlfriends and boyfriends, beautiful moments and millions of racing thoughts, all brought back to him the moment he walked through the gates. It was the same for everybody; Hyunwoo, who didn’t smile much anymore, was smiling as he bent over in the grass, toying with a firm-barked sprout that looked like one he’d planted long ago. Everybody had their own recollections, experiences and meanings behind their dazzling smiles, all moved by seeing their old home once more. 

“Man.” Minhyuk shook his head. “I miss this place so much.”

Hyungwon kissed Minhyuk swiftly. He took his fingers in his hands, “Should we go to the rooftop?” He invited, loud enough for everyone to hear. Minhyuk squeezed Hyungwon’s hands, and the pair ran ahead of their friends.

“Love is love.” Hyunwoo said randomly.

“I can’t disagree.” Kihyun put his hands up, and started after Minhyuk and Hyungwon with his friends.

“It’s just a fact of life.” Changkyun agreed. “Hyunwoo just likes to state facts sometimes. That’s just how he is.”

“He’s so smart he says all these facts so we can be smart too!” Jooheon brought up. “He’s doing us a favor. He’s being _generous_.”

“Is the air worse today?” Wandering around the vacant school proved to excite nobody. In fact, the empty classrooms with papers floating through empty halls and desks tipped over with chairs gathering dust put a damper on the mood. Kihyun’s awkward question did nothing to lighten them up. 

“They destroyed the courtyard.” Jooheon said, face pressed against the window. “Come see!”

The sight was so depressing, Minhyuk sat on the floor. “That’s as far as they got before they got bored, huh?”

“I wonder if everything else is still intact?” Hoseok said, hands on his hips as he stared through the window, eyes glistening with a certain sadness. “That’s where I asked my first girlfriend out...” 

“In the courtyard?” Changkyun frowned. “Hey, you never had a girlfriend!”

“Yes I did!” Hoseok protested. “I knew her all of junior high. I asked her out before we all became friends.”

“Did you date her just first semester then?” Changkyun stared at him.

“Yeah. We were a pretty couple!” Hoseok remarked dreamily. Changkyun stared harder. “I can’t believe she broke up with me so fast...”

“So that means... You were skinny when you were dating her!” Minhyuk cackled. “Did she break up with you because you were skinny?!”

Hoseok blushed.

“Is she the girl who made you get ripped?” Hyunwoo smiled. “She is, right? You’d cry when we worked out about how much you missed her!”

“How long did you date her? Second semester?” Hyungwon asked, now seated on the ground with Minhyuk and Hyunwoo, who had sat down long ago. “Man, time flies. It’s like you dated Jooseok just yesterday.”

“Yeah. She broke up with me before summer break.” Hoseok pouted. “I dated Jooseok when we came back from break, and we broke up in second year.” 

“Hoseok was so soft when he dated Jooseok!” Kihyun suddenly recalled. “He didn’t have a muscle on his body! Did Jooseok like you chubby?”

“He fed him so much ramen that Hoseok became chubby!” Minhyuk corrected, and the boys grinned. “Or did Hoseok keep asking for him to make more?”

“Maybe that’s why Jooseok got mad and stole his money.” Hyungwon chuckled.

“Make me make so much damn ramen!” Jooheon impersonated Jooseok, putting on an angry face. “Ugh!” He swung at the air. “Motherfucker! Stole ya damn 48 thousand won!”

Kihyun and Hyungwon broke out laughing.

“He only had 48 thousand won in his back account!” Kihyun wheezed, bent into his knees. “Oh my god! Hoseok-.” He laughed again.

“That was funny, Jooheon! That was kinda funny!” Hyungwon wiped a tear from his eye, laughing so hard he’d cried.

“I make good ramen...” Changkyun looked angry, jawline sharp as he glared at the window. “You choose the worst people to date.”

“Are you guys fucking again?” Jooheon crumpled in on himself once he said it. Exhausted by the thought, Jooheon collapsed on the floor and held his head in his arms. 

The conversation had been effective. They laughed and recalled forgotten memories, took pictures on the roof top and played Club Penguin in the computer room, smiles bright and eyes twinkling. As they passed through the halls, Kihyun suddenly stopped.

The boys gathered around him. He was staring into a classroom, which looked much like the rest; the only difference was the spacious amount of room there was. Kihyun, fixated on the room to the point the desks started reflecting in his eyes, smiled as he spoke. 

“Let’s live here!” He breathed excitedly.

“Live here...?” Jooheon echoed. 

“Like come here more often?” Minhyuk’s head tilted.

“Like _live here_.” Kihyun looked to his friends, eyes twinkling.

Here’s how it was; Jooheon and Kihyun were permanent live-ins. In that big classroom they’d found, they set up bean bags, a desk with a computer, a massive couch and a sizable row of dart boards for each of the boys to play. They set up the television from Kihyun’s mother’s old home, hooked up a couple of Hoseok and Jooheon’s games, set up some shades on the windows and their room was complete. Any of the boys were free to come and go. Kihyun and Jooheon, in the meantime, set up a bed room in the next classroom over. It wasn’t too big of a classroom, but Jooheon and Kihyun set up a couple of blankets on the floor as a mattress, and a couple of pillows. Their room was complete at that point- the only accessories were the clothes they were hanging up from costume racks they’d taken from the theatre department and Jooheon’s laptop and Nintendo charging on the walls. 

Living at school was not a hassle. Jooheon and Kihyun traveled to the gym to take showers, Kihyun would cook all their meals in the cafeteria, and wash their clothes in the drama department, where a washer and a dryer were set up to clean costumes. With no bills to pay and living off the school’s power generator, Kihyun and Jooheon were happy, warm, fed and finally off the streets. 

The school they’d trespassed into was their own now, and the boys could only pray the guys up in Busan wouldn’t change their minds and tear the place down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the shortest chapter in the entire fan fiction! chapter 3 is in the makings, so you guys don’t need to wait too long. also, this FF only gets progressively interesting in further chapters. real drama happens in the fourth and continues till the last chapter, so hang in there for crazy ass romance and crazy ass theories ;)


	3. Lost

Life remained hard. Jooheon and Kihyun had found temporary peace, and the boys were content with their place of gathering, but it didn’t stop the sufferings outside of their friend group from happening. 

“Mom, you lost a lot of weight recently.” Minhyuk mentioned absently as he poured water into a cup.

“There’s no good food to eat,” His mom shrugged. With a smile, she accepted Minhyuk’s water offering. “So I just don’t eat!”

“I’ll buy you some meat skewers soon, okay?” Minhyuk sat at the table with her. He took her hand in his. 

“Your father liked to say that.” His mom chuckled, and drank the water. “It’s alright to be a little hungry.”

Minjun walked out of his room. Eyes drooping, he opened the fridge and was met with the same fate. “Mom.” Minjun sighed, reaching his hand in. When his hand came back out, he had a stick of cheese. “Should we start living off of ramen?”

“We already do. Dinner is always ramen.” Minhyuk smiled. “Hey, there’s some leftovers from when Kihyun sent some food!” 

Minjun sat at the table. Thin hands opened the cheese’s package, and Minhyuk didn’t want to look at the bone jutting from his little brother’s thumb. Their mother stared at her son eating what he could, her hands trembling as her fingers tightened around her cup.

“Maybe we could move back to Gwangju.” Minjun suggested. “Grandma’s still got some money, right? Her house is paid off, so we won’t have any issues.”

“We can’t live off Grandma.” Minhyuk pressed his fingertips deep into his temple. “Auntie Jisoo is living there with the kids. If we go, we’ll just be hungrier.”

“Can’t be hungrier than we are right now.” Minjun muttered, and ate the last of his cheese stick. “We really can’t even buy fast food?” 

“Fast food?” Minhyuk echoed. “The prices for fast food are so high it’s holding god’s hand.”

Their mother’s hands shook until her cup spilled. The water rushed from the cup, covering the little table rapidly and dripping from the edges. As fast as it had tipped over, the cup rolled from the table and crashed onto the floor, shattering upon impact. 

“Mom!”

“Mommy!”

Their mom sunk her face into her hands, and her face fell further through her fingers until her face settled on the wet table. She dug weak fingers into her hair. “I lost my job.”

Silence ensued. There was no sound beyond the rhythmic dripping of the water slipping onto the floor, and Minhyuk broke the silence. “Mom?”

“Your dad doesn’t have a job anymore either.” Her shoulders heaved as her voice shook. She was crying. “We haven’t paid rent in two months.”

“Two months?” Minhyuk shot up from his seat. “But- Mom, I’m making money! I thought it was going towards rent!”

“You think what you make pays for a house?” Their mother shrilled. “It’s barely enough to buy water, Minhyuk!”

“Mom, I thought...” Minhyuk furrowed his brows. “Mom, if we can’t pay for rent, what am I paying for?! It can’t buy a lot, but it buys food, even if it can’t cover the house price!”

“You’re paying for nothing Minhyuk!” She sobbed.

Minhyuk slammed his hand on the table. “Mom, stop it! Stop! What are you spending the money on, mom?”

“Your dad drinks!” She pushed her chair out as she jerked upright, hair disheveled. “He drinks and drinks! If we can’t even pay for a full meal, he thinks it’s better to waste it on alcohol!”

“And you drink too?” Minhyuk was shouting at his mother. He didn’t mean it; he didn’t want to shout at her. He knew it was hard for her too. He knew it felt like she was out of options, but why had it come to this? “Mom, do you drink with him? Is that where our money is going?”

“Yes, I drink too!” She fell to the floor as she sobbed. Glass shards surrounding her, legs soaked in the puddles of water, she wept.

“Mom, get up,” Minjun ushered. This whole time, he’d been crying too- he spoke with red eyes and swollen cheeks, and moved to help his mother with shaking arms. “There’s glass on the floor.”

“Damnit!” Minhyuk hissed, and turned away from his family. “God... You didn’t think to use that money to feed Minjun? Mom, do you care if his cheeks are hollow or not? Do you even see the bones on his hands?!”

“I do!” She screamed. “I do! But I’ve tried, Minhyuk, I worked so hard and nothing makes his bones stop showing! Nothing makes your face healthy anymore, Minhyuk, I’ve tried for so many years and I can’t make your eyes shine anymore! I’m not happy either! I’m not- I never forgot about you boys!”

“You are.” Minhyuk accused. “You really are forgetting about us. That money could’ve gone towards something genuine to eat instead of damn water for dinner! You’ve gone fucking crazy!”

“Stop!” Minjun wailed. “Stop fighting! It’s okay, we can- we can just make more money! I’ll work too, Minhyuk, just stop it!”

“Don’t work!” Minhyuk shouted, tears welling in his eyes. “Don’t work! You don’t have to work, you hear me?! I won’t talk to you ever again if you even think about working!”

“Minhyuk,” His mother called his name through her cries. “Minhyuk...”

Minhyuk grabbed his phone from the table. As Minjun and their mom called for him, Minhyuk swung open the door and slammed it shut. 

At the school, Kihyun slept on the couch with Haeji and Hyujin, Jooheon and Hoseok playing video games with Hyunwoo watching on as Hyungwon and Changkyun shot darts onto the board. Minhyuk, wiping tears from his eyes, opened the door to their base in search of some kind of comfort. 

“Who’s here?!” Jooheon shrieked.

“Minhyuk, Minhyuk!” Changkyun rioted, but the noise died down quickly at the sight of Minhyuk’s sad face. Hyungwon dropped his darts. “Are you crying?”

Minhyuk nodded, and Hyungwon was fast to approach him and take his face in his hands. He stroked his cheek, and kissed his forehead. “What’s wrong?”

Minhyuk pouted, then sniffled, then burst out in tears. Hyungwon held his head and stroked his hair as much as he could, but Minhyuk’s tears could not be subdued. “My mom!” Minhyuk wept. “My parents, they’re spending my money on drinking.”

After a couple of Hyungwon’s kisses and the boys rubbing his back and petting his head, Minhyuk was back on his feet. Though he was sitting on the couch and still crying a bit, he didn’t feel as awful as he had fighting with his mom and brother.

“My baby...” Hyungwon crooned, sitting behind Minhyuk with his arms around his neck, and pressed a kiss to his lips. Minhyuk sniffled, and kissed him back before the brief kiss ended. 

“Should my family just move to Gwangju?” Minhyuk whimpered. “I can’t believe I yelled at my mom!”

“You have good reason to yell at your mom.” Jooheon nodded, taking off Minhyuk’s socks. “I don’t even have a mom and I feel like yelling at her. You’re good, Minhyuk.”

“But I yelled. I got so angry!” Minhyuk sulked, and pressed his face into Hyungwon’s chest. Hyungwon kissed his head lovingly. “Everybody gets angry sometimes. It’s bad, but we can’t always control our emotions.”

Hyunwoo sat on the couch, returning with hot chocolate for Minhyuk. He offered, and Minhyuk tearily accepted. “It’s hard to live in a world like this.” Hyunwoo murmured. He pet Minhyuk’s hair away from his forehead. “No worries, okay? Hard stuff like this happens all the time. Your parents are in the wrong for that one, but even if you can’t forgive them, try to understand them.”

“What if I don’t understand?” Minhyuk blubbered.

“Then you just keep living life.” Hyunwoo pat Minhyuk’s knee, and fell back onto the sofa. Across from them, on the love seat sofa, Kihyun was still asleep with Hyujin and Haeji. He stirred a bit once Hyunwoo spoke, and his eyes peeled open when the talking continued. 

“Minhyuk?” Kihyun croaked. “I called you five times. You never picked up.”

“Sorry Kihyun.” Minhyuk apologized, and Hoseok chuckled. “That’s the first thing you say when you wake up?” He grinned, and Kihyun settled his head back into the couch pillow. He patted Hyujin’s butt, who was sprawled across his stomach, and fell back asleep. 

“Feel better, Minhyuk?” Hoseok asked, and leaned over to rub his friend’s leg. “Hyungwon gives good kisses, huh?”

Minhyuk kicked Hoseok’s hand. “How would you know?!” He narrowed his eyes, and Hyungwon kissed Minhyuk’s face. “It’s all over your face that you like the kisses.” Hyungwon teased, patting Minhyuk’s hair back. 

Far later into the night, Hoseok and Changkyun had taken off with Haeji around ten, and Hyunwoo had pried the crying Hyujin away from Kihyun just an hour after Hoseok left, and went home himself. Jooheon and Kihyun retreated into their room after a half an hour conversation about beans with Minhyuk and Hyungwon, and let the two stay the night with no terms or conditions. 

“Minhyuk,” Hyungwon called from the couch, which had been extended by Jooheon and covered with a thick duvet. “Are you still upset?”

“You’re crazy enough to not use any honorifics on me now?” Minhyuk joked as he rummaged through the cooler in the corner of the classroom. He was successful in finding a water bottle, and stood up with a happy face. “I’m okay, Hyungwon. It’s not bothering me anymore.”

“You weren’t interested in our beans conversation at all.” Hyungwon sank beneath the duvet, hair pooling on the pillow as he did. “You’re thinking about it still, right?”

Minhyuk uncapped the water bottle. “I’m not thinking about anything.” He said in a small voice, and took a swig of the water. “I don’t usually think too much. I’m okay, Hyungwon.”

“You don’t have to lie to me.” Hyungwon told him, his nose and everything below covered by the duvet. “I thought you knew that already?”

Minhyuk, who found the pooled hair and hidden nose adorable, set aside his water bottle and climbed into the makeshift bed. “I’m not lying.” He smiled, able to see Hyungwon’s face again. “You’re too pretty. I can’t lie to you.”

“Don’t change topics!” Hyungwon narrowed his eyes. “Do you just not want to talk about it?”

Minhyuk nodded rapidly. “There’s nothing to talk about. No point in making you guys worry, right?”

Hyungwon stared at Minhyuk. Then, he rolled onto his side, irritated with his boyfriend. “You always do this... We’re supposed to worry about you.” He grumbled. “I’m the one that’s meant to worry most. You hiding it just makes me worry more.” 

“Hyungwon.” Minhyuk rolled his eyes. When Hyungwon moved further away, Minhyuk scooted closer and wrapped his arms around Hyungwon’s slender waist. “Hyungwon... Are you mad at me?”

“I’m not mad.” Hyungwon mumbled, and gave Minhyuk no attention. “I’m just upset.”

“Upset about what?” Minhyuk moaned, and kissed behind Hyungwon’s ear. He put his chin in the crook of Hyungwon’s neck, nose pressed into his cheek. “That I’m not telling you anything? I am telling you everything, Hyungwon! I don’t care about what happened anymore. I’m serious.”

“You’re lying.” Hyungwon did not react to Minhyuk’s advances. Not a single white hair had raised on his cheek, and his eyes were dead set on the wall. “I know you, Lee Minhyuk. You just can’t lie to me. This is how you always are! Kihyun asks if you’re doing okay with your homework and you always say yes even though you barely even know how to subtract!”

“I do know how to minus!” Minhyuk’s eyebrows raised. 

“Hoseok asks about your weight and you tell him you’ve been working out instead of saying you’re hungry!” Hyungwon carries on with his ranting, words steaming as he spoke. “You’re just annoying like that! Remember that time when you and Hoseok were playing soccer in PE, and you broke your hand but Hoseok scraped his knee, so you kept your freaking broken bone quiet the whole time?! You didn’t even cry! You helped Hoseok to the nurse’s office and disinfected everything yourself, and came to school with a cast the next day!” 

“That’s just because I care about Hoseok!” Minhyuk protested.

“You broke your fucking bone!” Hyungwon cried, exasperated. “You’re always the hero! Just tell me you’re having a hard time! I wanna help you Minhyuk, I don’t want you to keep everything secret just so I don’t worry or some bullshit you think of.”

“I keep hard stuff like that quiet because I know it breaks your guys' hearts.” Minhyuk murmured, holding Hyungwon closer to him. “When Changkyun told us he was living on the streets, we all cried our eyes out. When Jooheon told us the same thing, we cried our eyes out too. It broke my heart so much, that I decided I don’t want any of you guys to cry over me. Especially not you, Hyungwon.”

“Why not me?” Hyungwon snapped. “I’m supposed to cry over you! I’m supposed to worry and get my heart broken when I hear all the bad shit in your life! I’m supposed to hear everything and support you through everything, Minhyuk! I don’t care if it breaks my heart, it’s- it’s hurting me more that you’re not telling me!”

“Hyungwon.” Minhyuk sighed. Hyungwon tried to push him away, but Minhyuk’s hold was too strong. “I love you, Hyungwon. Did you know that?”

“I’m gonna sleep with Kihyun!” Hyungwon wriggled in Minhyuk’s arms. “Let me go!”

“Hyungwon!” Minhyuk wailed, “Hyungwon, I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry! I am still thinking about it. I’m still wondering if what I did was wrong or right. Now please don’t go sleep with Kihyun...”

“You seriously mean it?” Hyungwon settled down. Just as Minhyuk was going to speak, Hyungwon turned in his arms; in seconds, Minhyuk’s heart stopped at the sight of Hyungwon’s wide eyes, shimmering with emotion. “You really mean everything you said?”

Distracted by Hyungwon’s eyes, Minhyuk nodded slowly. Hyungwon smiled, and Minhyuk felt his heart miss a stair step. “Okay.” Hyungwon nodded, eyelids lowering. “I believe it. Are you really okay, Minhyuk?”

“I’m okay if I have you.” Minhyuk whispered, and kissed Hyungwon just below his eye. “I’m always okay if I get to see you all the time.”

Hyungwon giggled, and Minhyuk smiled at the melodic noise. He furthered his kisses, leaning over Hyungwon a bit as Hyungwon laughed and squirmed. Minhyuk kissed him sweetly on the lips, and with mischievous eyes, he looked to Hyungwon once the kiss was broken.

“Should we do it here?” Minhyuk breathed excitedly, climbing over Hyungwon.

“We can’t!” Hyungwon reeled back, eyes shrinking at the shock of the suggestion. “Jooheon and Kihyun will hear!”

“They’re asleep!” Minhyuk assured, and started unzipping his jeans. “You don’t wanna do it?” 

For a moment, Hyungwon thought- but Minhyuk kissed his neck, and all thoughts and any hopes to keep his clothes on were relinquished. 

“All I do is eat.” Changkyun complained. He’d stolen all sorts of ingredients from the grocery shop, and was set out for teaching Haeji how to make dumplings. Haeji had learned quickly, and Hoseok had come home with the warm smell of dumpling wafting in the air.

Now, they sat around the little table as they ate. They feasted great amounts for people stuck in poverty; Changkyun had sticky hands and friendships with sketchy people skilled in high class robbery that got him anything he wanted. 

“We’re too poor to be eating so much.” Haeji said through a mouthful of dumplings.

“We’ve always eaten a lot.” Hoseok mentioned. “It’s why our house is so awful.”

“Can’t Minhyuk eat well then?” Changkyun set down his chopsticks, appetite decreasing at the thought of his hungry friend. “He never says anything about being hungry, but it’s obvious...”

“He doesn’t rob anything like you do.” Hoseok explained. “His house has rooms and places to live in, and he has his parents and Minjun. Four people that all eat in a house worth more than ours.”

“Expensive because there’s more people, a bigger house and because Minhyuk doesn’t rob?” Changkyun repeated, running the reasons over in his mind.

“Their house isn’t falling apart like ours.” Hoseok said. “We have no air conditioning, and the water bill is low because our shower only runs for four minutes. We have no rooms either, and I don’t pay electricity bills.”

“Well we don’t pay any bills for the light with all your freaking candles. Your crazy ass invented a battery powered fridge too.” Changkyun said, and Hoseok grinned. “But doesn’t the stove need electricity?” Changkyun pointed out, and Hoseok thought for a moment. 

“I think my electricity bill is around six thousand won.” Hoseok said, and Haeji and Changkyun laughed at that. 

“It’s better to be stuck in a awful house than starving everyday.” Haeji said. “It’s good our house is like this. We can eat all the time that way.”

“I’ve gotten fatter these past three years.” Changkyun sighed, unable to eat more dumplings. “I used to be toned. I had abs, dude! Now I’m all soft!”

“It’s good.” Hoseok insisted, and reached his chopsticks to pick up the dumpling Changkyun had rejected. “Your soft abs make you handsome.” He assured him, and held up the dumpling next to Changkyun’s mouth.

“Soft abs?” Haeji repeated, giggling.

Changkyun took the dumpling in his mouth, and ate it grumpily. “You’re still shredded though, Hoseok!”

“I work out.” Hoseok said. “I took a weight lifting class instead of PE for second and third year. This year I’m constructing all this stuff, so it’s just a natural work out.”

“Cruel world.” Changkyun decided, and pushed his bowl away from him. “It’s a cruel world for sure.”

“Your cheeks are all round.” Hoseok told him affectionately. “They used to be hollowed. Now you look handsome.”

“You’re lowering his self esteem.” Haeji shook her head. Changkyun lowered his eyes in embarrassment at Hoseok’s compliment. “Just kidding. Maybe you raised it?!”

“Haeji!” Changkyun pretended he was going to hit her. Haeji laughed in response, shielding herself from his threatening hands. 

“Haeji, run!” Hoseok ushered, but with little enthusiasm. He was immensely focused on the dumplings. 

“But really, we didn’t start eating like this till you came, Changkyun.” Haeji said once she’d returned to her dumplings and Changkyun to being grumpy. “Hoseok was always hungry, but he was always busy too. He didn’t eat a lot, you know? You came and started cooking and making the beds and doing stuff, and Hoseok’s appetite got even bigger.” 

“Haeji, don’t say weird things.” Hoseok scolded. “Eat your food.”

“I’m serious!” Haeji ignored her brother. “Hoseok barely smiled before you started living here. His cheeks were hollow too. You fattened his cheeks up. You fatten each other’s cheeks up!”

Changkyun blushed profusely at that. Fatten each other’s cheeks up? Hoseok had fallen silent, still eating though his pointy ears were tinted a blinding shade of red. 

“Should we go, Haeji?” Hoseok interrupted awkwardly. “It’s almost six.”

“I don’t need you to take me to work everyday!” Haeji rolled her eyes. “Changkyun, are you coming too?”

“Sure.” Changkyun had no clue why he agreed.

Haeji was a waitress. She scored the job easily with her pretty face, and though waiting jobs were scarce amongst the chains of shut down or shutting down restaurants, Haeji had truly lucked out. She worked twenty minutes away from home, and Hoseok liked to take her and pick her up from work since it was too dark for her to walk alone. 

On the return home, Changkyun and Hoseok walked side by side in silence. Hoseok, who was constantly looking between Changkyun and the floor, was gathering up the courage to talk to Changkyun. Changkyun, always a shy kid, kept his eyes on the floor as he pretended to be oblivious to Hoseok’s looks.

“What Haeji said was all true.” Hoseok spluttered quickly. Changkyun could physically feel his cheeks turning red. “You did... you really, uh, made me really happy. By moving in. And not just moving in, you know what I mean, by taking care of the house and m- and Haeji, and making food, it all really helped to get me happy. Happy again. I wasn’t too happy before.” 

“Thank. You. Thank you.” Changkyun stuttered, unsure of how to reply. He felt like punching himself for the response- how could somebody mess up that badly? “And Hoseok, I...-.”

Hoseok abruptly walked in front of Changkyun. He stuck out a low, protective arm, and froze for a moment. “Was there always a police hang out right here?” He murmured to Changkyun.

Changkyun lifted his head up. On every corner of the road’s intersection, police officers stood with massive guns and aggressive faces. Changkyun moved closer to Hoseok, heart accelerating in fear. “No.” Changkyun whispered, and Hoseok stood for a couple more moments. 

“Changkyun.” Hoseok mumbled, and reached his hand until he found Changkyun’s fingers. He intertwined their fingers, and spoke with a dry throat. “Let’s go home.”

“She’s got a fever!” 

Hyujin was on fire. Her head burned her mother’s fingers, and the numbers on the thermometer made her father stumble backwards in shock. 

Hyunwoo held his younger brother. Hyundae watched on with wide eyes, little hands pulling at Hyunwoo’s shirt in desperation. “Is Hyujin gonna die?”

“Don’t say that.” Hyunwoo scolded. He hoisted his little brother up his arms. “Hyujin has a fever. Fevers are easy to get over, right?”

Hyundae nodded. “I had a fever before.” He said, and put his head on Hyunwoo’s shoulder. “It was a really bad one...”

“So Hyujin will live too.” Hyunwoo soothed, but he could not be comforted by his own words. He watched his mother collapse on the floor, rocking the wailing Hyujin as his father soaked rag after rag in attempt to cool her forehead. 

“The fever’s too high.” His father’s voice trembled. “It's been an hour. Honey, it still hasn’t broken yet.”

“It’s because we didn’t give her enough time!” His mother snapped.

“We gave her ibuprofen hours ago!” His father’s hands twitched as his voice raised over his daughter’s helpless wails. “Nothing’s changing!” 

“We didn’t give her it hours ago! We’ve barely waited!” His mother shrilled. Hyunwoo bounced Hyundae, unwilling to watch his little sister writhe in his mother’s arms. 

“We need to take her to the hospital!” His father shouted.

“What hospital?!” His mother shrieked. “You think there’s any hospitals left in Seoul? They’ve shut them all down!”

“Jesus Christ, you’re wrong!” His father’s shouts became yells as he fought with his wife. “They can’t have packed everything up and went to Busan! They couldn’t have left every single region to starve!”

“They did, you idiot!” His mother yelled too. Hyujin cried louder. “Whatever doctor is left can’t help her!” 

“We need to try! Our daughter’s about to die!”

“There is nowhere to go!”

“Hyunwoo, start the damned car!”

His mother was right; hospitals were shut down. Hyunwoo drove to every part of Seoul, but to no avail. Nothing was there for them.  
“Her fever isn’t breaking!” His mother wept in the backseat.

“Just take care of her!” His father snarled, and Hyundae sobbed into his hands in the midst of the insanity. 

“Soon we won’t have a daughter to take care of!” His mother wailed, and his father slammed a fist against the door. Hyundae cried even more.

Hyunwoo drove and drove until they found an open clinic. Small and rundown, his parents paid no mind to the condition of the place as they ran with their daughter inside. Hyunwoo followed quickly after with Hyundae in his arms, sweat beading on his forehead. A doctor appeared from the back door, white coat proving his existence. 

“Fuck, it was hard to find you!” It was the first time Hyunwoo had ever heard his father curse. He assumed it wouldn’t be the last time.

Hyunwoo sat as Hyundae was fast asleep in his lap. The pair of brothers were both waiting up at first, but after an hour or more of Hyundae waiting, he’d grown exhausted. It was further than the PMs, and the night sky was pitch black. Whatever time it was, Hyunwoo thought it must have been the evilest hour of the night. 

Hyunwoo was left to wait up alone. Elbows digging into his knees and hands clasped tightly together as his neck craned towards the back door, he waited for any noise, any signal, any movement- anything that could reassure him in the slightest. Finally, the door opened, and Hyunwoo would have stood up if not for Hyundae asleep in his lap. His mother came out crying, his father with a nerve showing on his forehead, and Hyuji sleeping in his arms. As they walked out of the hospital, his mother had cried to him. “We can’t pay for any medicine.” She wept. “He has to order from a pharmacist in Busan to get it.”

“Cops!” Jooheon spat. The seven boys were gathered in the classroom, lounging on couches and bean bags around the TV. Not much was on these days besides the news, and Hoseok had forgotten to bring his DVD player, so Hyunwoo had turned the television on for a bit of a distraction as the boys were in a easy-going mood today.

On the news, it was announced the president passed laws with specific names that could not be spoken. Any one who spoke the specific names, which included a handful of idol names, the president of America’s name and for a broader contrast, no names of any criminals would be spoken. If anyone was caught saying those names, they’d be taken in for interrogation and receive a penalty. 

“Backing everything up!” Jooheon hissed. He turned up the television. “Do you see that? Look at those bastard faces! Each and every one of them works for the systematic oppression of the minorities.”

Hyungwon buried his face into his hands. Minhyuk covered his mouth in an attempt not to laugh. Hoseok chuckled. Jooheon had not liked anything cop or government related from the day they’d met him, and every time police officers were mentioned, Jooheon was launched into an hour long description on every evil cops have ever committed. 

“Ah, Busan.” Hyunwoo sighed heavily. Kihyun pat his knee comfortingly, and wondered aloud. “Should we just move to Busan?”

“How can we move to Busan if we can’t even pay for meat?” Changkyun stretched out his arms. “Better to suffer in Seoul than try anything crazy.”

“Wow. Giving in to poverty already?” Jooheon shook his head. “Weren’t you for justice and equality?”

“Aren’t we all for justice and equality?” Changkyun fell back on the beanbag Minhyuk was occupying, pushing the boy to the side so they could both sit. “These days, I feel like there’s nothing we can do about it. It’s just how life goes.”

“No way to change it at all?” Minhyuk murmured, eyes reflecting the television. Minhyuk kissed Changkyun’s head briefly, petting his hair.

“It’s not like anybody tries either.” Hyungwon shrugged. “Any of us, I mean. We never think about the future.”

“The future’s been pointless since we were fifteen.” Changkyun mumbled, closing his eyes. “What point is there in fighting back anymore?”

“Fight back at what?” Minhyuk blinked at the television’s white light. “Looks like we get shot if we say anything against the government.”

Behind them, Hyunwoo scoffed. Usually silent in any arguments, the boys raised their eyebrows at his noise. “No future since fifteen… Is it possible my little sister will live to fifteen at this point?”

“So depressing!” Hoseok grinned. “Come on guys. Don’t worry about it. All we need to worry about is reunification.”

“Why is reunification the only political issue you care about?” Jooheon rubbed his forehead. 

“I hate communism.” Hoseok narrowed his eyes. 

Jooheon and Kihyun saw their boys off. At the end of the night, Jooheon tossed Kihyun a water bottle and got a Coca-Cola for himself. He sat on the couch beside Kihyun, who was watching something on his phone.

“Your phone gets service in here?” Jooheon cracked open his can of soda.

“Only sometimes. I have data though.” Kihyun smiled. “My mom forgot to stop paying my phone bill.”

“Wanna hot spot me?” Jooheon pleaded. “I haven’t used WiFi in years!”

“You’re a freaking liar!” Kihyun scrunched his face. “You literally set up the WiFi router in our bedroom!”

“It’s so I can work!” Jooheon whined. He left his soda can on the table, and rolled into Kihyun. “Please hotspot me! I have never used WiFi in this specific room!”

“The corner gets WiFi!” Kihyun put his foot on Jooheon’s head, pushing him away. Jooheon pushed as hard as he could, and eventually managed to defeat Kihyun’s foot, his established enemy, and put his head on Kihyun’s stomach. “Jooheon, go away!”

Jooheon rolled off the couch, and onto the floor with a thud. “Don’t ever talk to me again!” Jooheon threatened, curling up on the hard tile below. “Leave me alone!”

“I’m not doing anything!” Kihyun shouted, his phone falling onto his face at the sudden aggression. “Ow… Jooheon, don’t you have a car to hack or something?”

“I don’t even hack cars.” Jooheon rose to his feet, slouching with his head hung as he exaggerated his sulky feelings. “You don’t even know anything about me. I hate you.”

“I love you.” Kihyun sang, returning to watching a bear scout for fish on Youtube. But once he pressed the play button, a notification told Kihyun he was offline. Confused, he checked his phone to see if data was still running, and when he saw it wasn’t, his first thought was that his mother must’ve found out she was still paying for his phone. Kihyun rubbed his eyes. “Doesn’t even love me enough to pay for my phone bill. Maybe I am an abomination.” He grumbled to himself as he hauled himself off the couch. “Jooheon, I’m making sushi for dinner!”

“Okay!” Jooheon shouted from their bedroom. “Kihyun, wait!”

Kihyun was quick to appear at the doorway. His head popped out from beside the frame, walnut chin prominent as he waited for Jooheon to speak. “What?”

“Kihyun, is your phone getting any WiFi?” Jooheon asked, leaning back into his computer chair. “My computer isn’t connected to the internet.”

“No. I think my mom stopped paying for my data though, so maybe your computer has a different problem?” Kihyun suggested, showing his WiFi-less lockscreen to Jooheon as proof, but Jooheon shook his head. “Your phone doesn’t need any data to connect to WiFi. Can you check if the router’s on?”

“Okay.” Kihyun put his phone in the pocket of his sweater, and walked to the side of their bed to check the router. Green lights checking off every connection assured Kihyun everything was working well, but Kihyun reached over to unplug the router anyways. “I’m gonna reset the router.”  
“Mm.” Jooheon hummed. “My phone’s not getting any service. Does it open the internet for you?”

“I was on Youtube, and it told me I wasn’t connected.” Kihyun said, and once ten seconds had passed, Kihyun plugged the router back in. The lights lit up, but they were red. “Jooheon, nothing is connected.”

“The router’s not connected?” Jooheon turned in his seat to look at Kihyun. “Try it again.”

Kihyun tried it another two times, but to no avail. “Did a power line crash?” Kihyun wondered. 

“I tried to open google.” Jooheon mumbled. “But it gave me an error code.”

“Could you read the code?” Kihyun asked, walking over to Jooheon’s chair. He put and arm around the headrest, leaning down to look at the blinding light of the white website page, numbers and an “Error!” statement plastered across it.

“The website doesn’t exist anymore.” Jooheon mumbled, eyes fixated on the variation of numbers and hash marks. 

“Google doesn’t exist anymore?” Kihyun snorted. “You’re being an idiot. Can you really read code?”

“Nope. The code’s right there.” Jooheon muttered. “Can you-... Can’t call anybody without service, huh? Maybe Changkyun could’ve checked it out.”

“Hoseok doesn’t pay phone bills anyways.” Kihyun sniffed. 

“Changkyun pays his own.” Jooheon informed, and Kihyun nodded at the revelation. “Are no websites at all working?”

Jooheon typed in a hundred different website links and tried visiting them through a thousand different ways, but each code told Jooheon something along the lines of the website being unable to reach due to a server disturbance, or that it didn’t exist anymore.

“Would it show these codes if the WiFi was out?” Kihyun said.

“It would show these things if the Internet was out.” Jooheon sat back in his chair, and Kihyun was surprised to see a confusion knotting his eyebrows together. Was this something Jooheon couldn’t fix? “Are you saying it only shows those things if the Internet’s down or something?” Kihyun asked. Jooheon shook his head.

“I’m saying these things only show because I have no server access.” Jooheon looked up at Kihyun, his bottom lip being chewed on by his front teeth. “Nobody’s blocking my access. Somebody shut the Internet down.”

Neighborhoods away from the school, Changkyun and Hoseok sat together on Hoseok’s run down porch. The wood that served as the porch was broken and infested with little bugs, as the rain had terrible effects on construction wood and left Hoseok with no choice but to tape all the holes in the porch shut. The duo, luckily, did not have to sit on the wood of the porch, but were seated in chairs instead, slippers sacrificed to touch the porch’s floor instead. 

“I’m sick of eating ramen.” Changkyun said, wine glass teetering between his fingertips. “I make it every single day. Do you need to eat so fucking much of it?”

“There’s all sorts of different ways to make ramen!” Hoseok told him, nudging him with his hand. “You could put extra eggs. You could put sausage. You could make _vegan_ ramen, carnivorous ramen, there’s just a million paths to take with ramen.”

“Is that why you like it so much?” Changkyun snorted. 

“You could start putting more eggs in there.” Hoseok blinked at the starry sky. “Need the protein. Actually Kkung, quit cooking so much! I need to eat only salads and chicken breasts for the next month. My muscle mass is going way down.”

“Should I put salad in your ramen then?” Changkyun teased, and Hoseok laughed. “You’re just so annoying. I said cook less!”

“I don’t want to cook less. If I cook more, you build up fat, which is what muscle is built off of.” Changkyun explained. “Conclusion? Make you more food. Oh yeah, want some wine?”

“No.” Hoseok refused. “I don’t drink.”

“Yes you do.” Changkyun shook his head. “You were hard on the cigarettes and beer in high school. Now that you’re legal to drink it, you don’t want it? Something tells me you’re like a rebel.”

“I drank way too much back then.” Hoseok confessed. “I kind of got sick of it. I kept getting fired all of second year because I went to work drunk or crazy from the cigarettes.”

Changkyun sipped the last of his wine. “I’ll believe you.” He set his wine on the floor, beside his feet. He tilted his chin to the sky, and Hoseok caught the sight of his jawline sharpening as he watched the moon inch by the sky. 

“I see the Canis Minor.” Changkyun pointed his finger to the sky, but Hoseok had no idea what the Canis Minor was. He nodded anyways, and pretended to look interested- but the look of the stars glistening against Changkyun’s lenses were a bit more interesting than the Canine Minority. 

“Is that your favorite?” Hoseok choked up. “Canor Minority?”

Changkyun’s eyebrows furrowed, and he gave Hoseok a side eye. “Canor minority? _Canis Minor_?”

“Yes.” Hoseok, for some odd reason, could not focus on the Canis Minor. There was something about Changkyun tonight; Hoseok wasn’t sure if it was the rounded glasses, the way his jawline was so prominent tonight, or if it was the charming way the moonlight illuminated his fading acne scars, but he knew it was becoming harder and harder to look away from him.

Suddenly, Hoseok figured out the issue as he watched Changkyun speak. Changkyun was handsome.  
Changkyun had always been handsome. Always had a big nose, always had a pretty face shape, always had those serious eyebrows and deep eyes. Hoseok had always known Changkyun’s beauty existed, so why was it that tonight he was realizing it?

“Hoseok?” Changkyun’s voice snaps Hoseok out of his contemplative thoughts. “What are you looking at?”

“You.” Hoseok told him casually. Realizing what he’d said, Hoseok shot up in his seat. “Not. You not. Not you. I wasn’t looking at you, because I was looking… at the stars!”

“Did you actually lie about not drinking?” Changkyun muttered skeptically. He eased back into his seat, but kept side eyeing Hoseok.

“It’s just,” Hoseok trailed off. He rubbed his ear, which was burning hot, and looked awkwardly towards the sky. “Pretty.”

“The stars?” Changkyun looked up. “I’ve been trying to tell you about the stars and you’re ignoring me! What were you even thinking about?”

“Not the stars.” Hoseok mumbled. “Something else.”

“The moon?” Changkyun groaned. “Stop. You’re being annoying right now.”

“Pretty.” Was all Hoseok could choke out, the blush on his ears spreading to his cheeks. “You are.”

“I’m what? Pretty?” Changkyun asked, and when he received no response, Changkyun’s eyes widened. He whipped his head to stare into his lap, cheeks pressed pink. “What… why did you say that?”

“You’re pretty!” Hoseok blurted out. “We’ve done it before! Why does this make you shy?”

“Done what before?” Changkyun coughed, eyes on the verge of falling out of their sockets. 

“Had sex!” Hoseok spat out, and Changkyun hid his face into his hands. “I said you were pretty! I said a bunch of gross things!”

“I thought that was a one time thing!” Changkyun wheezed. Hoseok’s face was hot to the touch by that point. “You think I’m trying to get with you right now?!”

“You’re fucking flirting with me!” Changkyun cried, face as pale as the moon.

“I said you were pretty!” Hoseok argued. 

Changkyun gave Hoseok his angriest face, and faced away from him. “Why did you say I was pretty?” He pouted, and Hoseok whined. “You just looked beautiful!”

“You look beautiful.” Changkyun mumbled the words, a blush stretching from ear to ear across his face. “You look so beautiful.”

“Beautiful!” Hoseok said abruptly. 

“Stop talking!” Changkyun kicked his feet in distress. The boys sat, awkward tension between them as they hid blushing faces. After a while, Changkyun spoke, shoulders slumped. “Hoseok.” Came his quiet murmur. “Do you think about it sometimes?”

“Think about what?” Hoseok asked, coming down from his earlier spell of adrenaline. 

For a moment, they looked at each other. Changkyun studied Hoseok’s blank eyes, awaiting an answer, while Hoseok watched emotions pass through Changkyun’s face, as though he wasn’t sure how to tell Hoseok what he meant. 

Changkyun shook his head. He pulled his eyes away from Hoseok and looked to the sky, and leaned on Hoseok’s shoulder. “Think about how far the stars are.” He told him softly, replacing what he had to say with pretty words instead.

Hoseok relaxed into Changkyun. He decided to forget about the idea Changkyun could have had something else to say; whatever Changkyun wanted to say, he’d say when he was ready. Hoseok looked at the stars too, reaching his hand to Changkyun’s. “They travel a long time for us to see them.” Hoseok whispered to Changkyun. “Must mean they really love is.” 

“What do you mean?” The tension in his body ebbed away, and he felt comfortable with Hoseok. Though his heart thudded in his chest, there was no where he’d rather be than right there. “When they die their light takes lightyears to get here. That’s what you mean?”

Hoseok nodded. “They travel really far to give us a beautiful night. So it obviously means they love us.”

Changkyun closed his eyes. “If I travel really far to see you, does that mean I love you?”

“Probably.” Hoseok told him simply, the will to talk anymore dying in his throat. The night ended with the moon high in the sky and Hoseok picking up a sleeping Changkyun to take him inside, Changkyun’s wine glass forgotten beside the couple of chairs on the porch. 

Today Minhyuk was supposed to go home and reconcile with his family. Hyungwon cheered him on, Kihyun and Jooheon had promised Minhyuk cake if he succeeded, and Minhyuk felt like things were going to work out when he went home. 

Of course things would work out. They were family after all- there was no point in _not_ working things out. They needed each other now more than ever, Minhyuk thought, so there was no way they’d still be mad. 

Minhyuk turned the corner to his house, and colors flashed in his eyes. Red and white, alerting their presence as the morning settled into day, the attractive colors painting Minhyuk’s pale face. Black cars with strange accentuations, made to blend in with the stark of the night, a contrast to the bright colors, were parked and pulled up awkwardly around the road of Minhyuk’s house. Minhyuk, confused, hesitated before taking his next step- and Minhyuk would think about this hesitation for days. Tomorrow, he’d wonder if walking just a little faster would’ve got him there in time. In two days, he’d wonder if he could save his family if he hadn’t hesitated. In seven days, he’d ask himself if hesitating before taking that one step was worth it.

It wasn’t worth it. Minhyuk should have been running home. In fact, Minhyuk should have never left home in the first place. Just as he was going to make his next step, his door burst open. Men dressed in bulky black outfits cocked guns at his family, shoving their hung heads towards their black cars. 

“Hey!” Minhyuk shouted. He started to run towards them. “Hey! What the hell is going on? Hey- Let go of me! Let go of my family!”

A woman had hooked her arm around his waist, and the way her forearm flexed assured the pale faced Minhyuk that there’d be no escape from her hold. He thrashed and kicked, shouted and yelled, but more cops came to restrain him. “Let me go! Mom! Mom, look at me! Mom, _look at me_! It’s Minhyuk! Mom, look up!”

A cop murmured something to his mother. She glanced hurriedly at Minhyuk, then back down to her feet. Quite loudly, she said; “That’s not my son.”

His father and brother stared at Minhyuk, as though to signal for him to get away- as though they were signaling for danger. Minhyuk could only thrash harder against the cops, could only reverently ignore whatever the cops tried to say to calm him down. “Minjun! _Minjun come here!_ Dad, get away from them, I know- Dad, look at me! Somebody! Mom! Where are you taking them?!” He spewed his demands desperately. He kicked whatever cop was holding him in the knee, and the person behind him cowered, loosening their hold on Minhyuk. He wriggled away, and lunged towards his family. 

His actions were in vain. A massive shoulder appeared and blocked him from tackling cops away from his family, and another cop shoved Minhyuk onto the floor. As they surrounded him, trying to grab his wrists to take him in for interrogation, Minhyuk writhed and wriggled, his brain slowing at the amount of things he needed to process. The cops were talking to him, the lights were flashing, and there was sweat, sickeningly sticky, rolling from his chin to his neck- but Minhyuk couldn’t hear anything. The sirens became whirls in his ears, the sight of his father having his head ducked into a police car a blur, the questions and demands from police officers fading in with the alarming wail of the sirens. 

“Let him go.” Voices came back into his ear. Having fainted, Minhyuk realized he was on the ground surrounded by police officers. His vision was hazy and ears were ringing, and he couldn’t quite tell what was going on.

“Why?” Another voice demanded, muffled by the ringing in Minhyuk’s ear.

“He’s just a kid. He was probably faking everything to look like a hero.” Minhyuk tried to protest at that, but the noises that came out of his mouth sounded like strangled, quiet grunts. 

“But he fought with us! He kicked me in the knee!”

“Let’s go. There’s better things to worry about.”

Footsteps thumped until they faded away, and sirens were blaring as loud as ever as Minhyuk heard engines start and wheels screech. The shadows looming over Minhyuk were gone; it was safe for his vision to clear. He was left on the floor where officers had thrown him, and when he propped himself onto his elbows, heart racing at the idea that his parents might still be here, he was greeted with an empty street and a blue sky. 

Minhyuk turned around. His door was still open. 

At the classroom, Jooheon oversaw the gathering of his friends in Kihyun’s place, who’d come down with a fever earlier in the day and was asleep. Hoseok had come with Changkyun and Haeji around two, eyebrows knit together as he dispensed Changkyun and Haeji to fulfill any classroom-involved wishes. Quietly, Hoseok had sat Jooheon down on the bean bag, their shoulders pressed together as they leaned back.

“I’m getting evicted.” Hoseok whispered to Jooheon. Jooheon’s eyes almost fell out of his head. “Evicted?! You can’t- but why? You pay everything!”

“They found a tenant who was willing to use the water.” Hoseok muttered. “And pay for the bill.”

“Who the hell would do that?” Jooheon scoffed, but quickly exchanged his joke for panic. “Hoseok, you can’t just let it happen. Go fight with them or something dude! We’ve basically lived in that house for years! Isn’t that place where you grew up too?”

“Something like that.” Hoseok sighed. He pressed his fingertips into his face, leg bouncing restlessly. “I don’t know what I’m gonna do, Jooheon. I got home from work and walked around to see if any houses are for sale, but rent for any empty house is high as shit. I almost crapped myself checking the prices.”

“Too expensive to buy one too, huh?” Jooheon mumbled. Hoseok let his hands fall to his knees, and he hung his head in place of his stressful fingers. “Yeah. Jooheon, I have no idea what to do man. I can’t do… The internet’s down, I just… I don’t even know what to say anymore.”

“Come stay with us.” Jooheon offered. Hoseok shook his head, but Jooheon rolled his eyes at his refusal. “Come on! Kihyun and I don’t even talk about anything! He always sits around and asks where Minhyuk is, and when he’s not doing that, he just bullies me! He bullies me all day all night. If you moved in, I’d have somebody to protect me.” 

“It’s not just me though, honey.” Hoseok grumbled, running a hand through his hair. “Changkyun and Haeji too. I can’t leave them to fend for themselves.”  
“Well I meant all of you.” Jooheon blinked at Hoseok, as though what he meant was obvious. “So what if you all start staying here? The whole point of this place is for us to be together.”

Hoseok shook his head again. He held his face in his hands, eyes glassy as he stared ahead of him. “I wish I had enough money to give Haeji her own room.” He sighed. “If… I don’t know. The only privacy she gets is the bathroom, and it’s for like twenty minutes. I just wish I could give her a better life. Sorry, Jooheon. I’m saying a bunch of shit, huh?”

Jooheon shook his head this time. He nudged Hoseok and smiled at him. “So what? There’s like, five hundred classrooms in this school. Haeji can have three entire hallways for herself if that’s what she wants. Just come live here!” Jooheon urged, and he shoved Hoseok playfully. “It’s like living in a mansion. A really cold mansion with no heating. But, it’s okay! Our room has a billion blankets, so we’re always warm.”

“You really mean it?” Hoseok asked, looking at Jooheon. There was a no-nonsense tone in his voice, and his eyes were firm as he looked to Jooheon for answers. “You’re not just saying all this for fun?”

Jooheon rolled his eyes again. “Duh I mean it! Don’t act stupid! It’s not even a big deal, okay? Haeji can get a whole classroom to herself, and all the boys sleep together in the boys bedroom. We all take showers in the gym, we all cook in the cafeteria, we all watch TV in the hangout room. I don’t even- I have zero issues with you living here!”

“And Kihyun?”

“Just telepathically contacted him.” Jooheon told Hoseok. “He says he’s down.”

Hoseok grinned, and slung an arm around Jooheon’s neck. “Do you know I love you?” Hoseok crooned. “I love you with everything in my body.”

“Is your dick for Changkyun?” Jooheon gagged, sticking his tongue out. Hoseok shoved him away with a laugh, and Jooheon shoved him back. “What’s wrong with you?! So you only be nice to me when I let you live in my house?”

“No!” Hoseok laughed, falling into Jooheon’s lap. “That’s- I’m joking! I swear I’m joking!”

“Have you told Changkyun and Haeji yet?” Jooheon asked, patting Hoseok’s head. Hoseok’s shoulders fell, and his face fell with it. He shifted so that the back of his head was on Jooheon’s thighs, frown deep at Jooheon’s question. “I haven’t.” Hoseok told him. “I don’t know how to tell them! They love our house, honey. Maybe I really should fight the landlord… I’m pretty big, right? I could beat my landlord pretty fast.”

Jooheon grinned. “Go tell them now. They won’t be mad at you.”  
“You think so?” Hoseok looked up at Jooheon, eyes rounded with worry. Jooheon cuddled his older friend’s head, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “I know so. Go and tell them.”

Hoseok, Changkyun and Haeji moved in. Haeji brought in two boxes of her belongings, the boys helped move Hoseok’s sofa into the classroom, set up Hoseok’s television in the bedroom, moved desks and whiteboards from a classroom and situated Haeji’s make up and mirrors on Hoseok’s coffee table from home (which would be her new desk), set up her mattress in her new room and set up their own mattresses in the boys’s room. Haeji had a massive smile on her face the whole time, but when asked, Haeji liked to tell them her new room was really big. 

“The cafeteria’s always been pretty far.” Hoseok remarked later into the night after Changkyun forced him along to make ramen for dinner. “We have to walk all the way across the school…”

“I can lose some weight that way.” Changkyun sighed. “I’m serious about getting fat. My stomach used to be tight, and now it’s completely soft.”

Hoseok wrapped his arms around Changkyun’s waist, smiling brightly at Changkyun’s complaints. He pushed him as he started walking, waddling behind Changkyun. “I told you I like it softer!” Hoseok told him. “It’s cute.”

“It was the sexy kind of toned.” Changkyun went on as they left the bedroom, looking miserable. “With the happy trail going all the way down… It was super hard! Hoseok, stop touching me, you’re b- Stop it!” 

Hoseok grinned sheepishly, removing his hands from squeezing the baby fat on Changkyun’s hips. “Sorry!” He said, putting his face back into Changkyun’s neck. “I’m telling you it’s cute. I like biting it.”

“You bit my stomach once.” Changkyun grumbled. As they walked off together to the kitchen, Jooheon and Haeji had their faces pressed to the classroom window, watching Hoseok and Changkyun flirt with each other as Kihyun sat on the couch, happy to play Hoseok’s video games.

“They’re in love, aren’t they?” Jooheon asked Haeji bitterly. “Have you ever heard them confessing their feelings or something like that?”

Haeji shook her head, then had a pensive look on her face. “Not really. Sometimes at night, I’ll be trying to sleep and Changkyun’s like, stop, stop! And then he gets all giggly and so does Hoseok, but I don’t think they’re like, sleeping together, you know? And whenever Changkyun cooks, Hoseok will get these love eyes and go to hug his back and talk to him like he’s a baby. They sort of like, dance around each other maybe? Like, I don’t know, they’ll never kiss each other but Hoseok will be on top of him on the couch or something.”

“On top?!” Jooheon choked. “Doing what?!”

“Weird shit.” Haeji said gravely. “Hoseok always does it if Changkyun’s wearing a button up. He’ll just, unbutton his shirt and touch his torso or some weird shit. Changkyun likes it though. They’re freaking weird.”

“Do they do it in front of you?” Kihyun asked, suddenly interested in the conversation.

“What?! No!” Haeji cried. “That would be crazy weird! My brother looks like he’s doing all the weird stuff, but Changkyun is the _really_ weird one. He’ll bend down in front of Hoseok, or ‘accidentally’ fall on him, or pretend there’s no where else to sit and sit on Hoseok’s lap. And- and he’s always complaining about gaining weight, but he knows Hoseok likes it, so he just takes off his shirt all the time and walks around without it! Then he’ll do everything I said, but without a shirt! Or he’ll start stretching in front of Hoseok all shirtless- It’s like they wanna do stuff, but they can’t, or they’re shy, or I don’t know!”

“It’s some.” Jooheon announced, leaning into the couch. “They’re not sleeping together, and they’re not kissing on the lips, but they are doing everything beside that.”

“Some!” Kihyun echoed. “I haven’t heard that word in years! Jesus Christ I miss television.” 

“Isn’t it some, Kihyun? It’s like they’re flirting, but not too much, but they’re not dating, and they don’t know if they wanna date- It’s like Fight My Way.” Jooheon nodded. “You remember that drama?”

“It was Minhyuk’s favorite.” Kihyun nodded. “He had a big thing for Go Dongman. I can’t blame him… Park Seojoon is way too sexy.”

“Fight My Way?” Haeji repeated, thinking about whether she’d seen it or not. “I dunno if I saw it.”

“Did you like idols?” Kihyun called to her. Haeji nodded. “I liked Girls Generation.”

“Yoon-ah was always so pretty.” Jooheon recalled, eyes distant with thoughts of Im Yoon-ah. “Did she get married?”

“My favorite was Yuri.” Haeji said dreamily. “I just blush thinking about her. Should I show you the Gee choreography?!”

“Yeah!” Kihyun and Jooheon cheered, and Kihyun tossed his controller to the side. 

Hyungwon was knocking on Hyunwoo’s door at the break of dawn. The sun had been away for weeks, the brief period of heat in January forgotten as February snows reared its head. For days now, Hyungwon had lost contact with Minhyuk- although the internet had been down for some time, Hyungwon had gone searching for Minhyuk by the classroom, his mom’s house, the idol company, anywhere he could fathom to go, but came up short. There was no sign of Minhyuk anywhere. Feet buried in layers of snow, Hyungwon now rapped on Hyunwoo’s door, lips cracked from constantly worrying them. 

The door knob twisted, and Hyunwoo’s face appeared. Hyungwon would have stumbled back had his feet not been buried in snow- Hyungwon hadn’t seen Hyunwoo in a while, but he had no idea he could’ve changed so much. His stubble was dark and cheekbones prominent, attractive skin faded from its original brown color and eyebrows losing their black hue. 

“You smell.” Hyungwon told him.

“Your lips are bleeding.” Hyunwoo told him flatly, reaching out a thumb to wipe the blood away. 

“What happened to you?” Hyungwon asked, putting a hand on Hyunwoo’s shoulder. Hyunwoo didn’t smile, and the usual air headed gaze was lost to an emotionless state. 

“Lost my job.” He had not lost his straightforwardness. “My siblings are getting really sick.”

“How sick?” Hyungwon’s voice quieted. Hyunwoo shook his head, and stepped aside to let Hyungwon in. 

“Where is everybody?” Hyungwon asked as Hyunwoo shut the door. “Hyujin and Hyundae are in their room. They’re really coughing.”

“Could I see them?” Hyungwon asked, and Hyunwoo shook his head again. “Come sit down.”

“Haven’t been here in a long time.” Hyungwon sat on the couch, and Hyunwoo followed suit. “How long? Second year?”

Hyungwon sighed heavily. He abruptly threw his arms around Hyunwoo, and Hyunwoo didn’t hesitate to hug him back.

“Missed you, Hyunwoo.” Hyungwon muttered. Hyunwoo rubbed his back. “It’s been a while since I’ve been to the classroom, right?” 

Hyungwon nodded. They pulled away, and Hyungwon looked at his friend with affection. “Really, really missed you. Jooheon stays up all night talking to Kihyun about how he misses you.”

Hyunwoo cracked a smile. “I miss Jooheon too. What’s wrong, Hyungwon? Your lips have been bleeding this whole time.”

“Minhyuk.” Hyungwon broke the name, rubbing at his lip to wipe away any remnants of blood. “I have no idea where he is. He went to apologize to his parents a couple of days ago, and he never- He never got back in contact with me.” 

“He got in a fight with his parents?” Hyunwoo looked surprised. 

Hyungwon nodded. “I know. He said- Maybe I shouldn’t tell you. Ask him when we see him instead.” He told Hyunwoo, to which his friend nodded in understanding.

“You’ve checked his house?” Hyunwoo went on.

“Yeah. I went up there on my bike, but even from down the hill it looked like Minhyuk’s neighborhood was kind of deserted. No lights or anything. It was weird, Hyunwoo, really weird… The door to his house was completely open. The table was flipped and there was just glass all over the floor, papers and bills everywhere. I searched everywhere to see if they’d left a note behind, or something to tell me if they’re safe, but I didn’t find any train tickets or anything. The car keys were on the countertop.”

Hyunwoo’s eyebrows furrowed. His sickly looking face seemed to sink even more as he processed what Hyungwon said, vague eyes studying the floor. “A while back Hoseok said he saw some cops around his neighborhood. Remember?”

Hyungwon scratched at his thumb. “I do remember it. But that’s Hoseok’s neighborhood. Minhyuk lives in a nicer part of the city.”

“Not too much nicer.” Hyunwoo mused. Suddenly, his face paled. He straightened his back, and the urgency of Hyunwoo’s movements caught Hyungwon’s attention. “Hyungwon. The bills.”

“What about the bills?” Hyungwon stuttered.

“Were they unpaid?”

Cops had gotten Minhyuk and his family- It’s the conclusion the boys had come to. Hyunwoo showered in a record time of three minutes, and dressed in thick clothes before packing a couple of jackets on to Hyungwon.

“You get sick easy.” Hyunwoo reminded Hyungwon in a distracted mutter. Hyunwoo told his mother, looking ill in her dark bedroom, that he’d return soon, and the boys ventured into the outdoors on their way to their old hangout spots. Hyunwoo had agreed to help him look, and assured Hyungwon that Minhyuk couldn’t have been taken away. “He talks so much, the police would have left him behind.” Hyunwoo told the worried lover.

On their third round walking the streets of Seoul, Hyunwoo suggested to the teary eyed Hyungwon that they look around the school one more time. Hyunwoo didn’t actually believe Minhyuk was at the school, but Hyungwon was on the verge of tears and Hyunwoo gathered that maybe asking their friends for help would soothe his nerves. As they walked to school, a snowflake drifted onto the tip of Hyunwoo’s nose.

“Wonder how it’s so cold.” Hyunwoo muttered, crossing his eyes to look at the snowflake. He shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut after realizing that crossing them was starting to hurt. “Hyungwon, should we get something to eat first?”

There was no response. No response would be needed, because it had become clear their search was over. Instead, Hyungwon’s cracked lips split into a wide smile, teary eyes welling into tears at the sight of somebody special. “Minhyuk!”

As snowflakes drifted down, Minhyuk was revealed. He sat on the curb, swollen eyes highlighting dark eyelashes. Upon being called, he lifted his head, and Hyungwon let out a groan. “Minhyuk, get up!” He demanded, running to his boyfriend. Minhyuk’s wry gaze seemed to soften at the sight of Hyungwon; unsteadily, he stood up, and took Hyungwon’s face in his hands.

“Why are your lips so cracked?” Minhyuk murmured, and Hyungwon laughed. He put his hands over Minhyuk’s, unable to be angry. “Why didn’t you come see me?”

Minhyuk kissed Hyungwon’s lips, bleeding and all. With tired eyes glowing with a renewed affection after seeing his boyfriend, he rubbed his thumb along Hyungwon’s cheekbone. “I did something really bad, Hyungwon.” He said, and the affection on his face spiraled into fear. “I did something really, really bad.”

Kihyun, Jooheon, Hoseok and Changkyun rejoiced at the sight of Hyunwoo. Jooheon tackled him to the ground, Hoseok pestered him with questions on whether he wanted to shave his stubble or not, Kihyun presented him with a variety of snacks and Changkyun peacefully scolded Hyunwoo for leaving them alone for so long. But the panic died down, and the upset faces of the new trio left the boys with questioning glances. 

With Haeji in her room, they were free to talk in the living room. Gathered onto the couch, Minhyuk told them everything that happened.

“You made it sound like it was so bad.” Hyunwoo murmured, and rubbed Minhyuk’s leg in attempt to comfort him. “All that happened was you getting knocked out. Of course you couldn’t help them.”

“But- If I had run away! Or fought back, or-...” Minhyuk trailed off. His head hung, and Hoseok pat him aggressively on the back.

“Fucking cops.” Jooheon said, foaming at the mouth. “God damnit! Did they say where they’re taking your family?!”

“To prison, obviously.” Changkyun rolled his eyes, and Jooheon shot a pointed glare his way.

“Guys.” Kihyun leaned into his knees. “This is serious. Minhyuk’s family got arrested. Even Minjun got arrested! He doesn’t even pay the bills!”

Minhyuk buried his face into his hands. Hyungwon, who didn’t know what to say, silently rested his head against Minhyuk’s shoulder in an attempt to console them.

“It is serious.” Hoseok agreed, his usually playful face becoming sad. “A cop was there to back up the landlord when they came to give me the eviction notice. They’re swarming the city, but nobody’s in the streets.”

“Some weird shit is going on.” Changkyun muttered. “There’s still tons of residents in Seoul, but not even half as many as there were a couple of years ago. Poor people packed their shit up and left for Geochang.”

“Nothing left to do but be a farmer.” Hyungwon mumbled.

“You think they’re trying to filter out Seoul?” Jooheon asked, suddenly interested. “They moved all their shit to Busan. Are they tryna kill the rest of us to make the capital of Korea in Busan?”

“It’s not fair. If we had money, we would’ve gotten our shit together and moved to Busan too.” Hoseok said softly, picking at the fuzz on the couch. “It’s not fair if they want us to get out. It’s just not.”

“Why do they want us to get out?” Jooheon sighed. “We’re just peacefully living life. We’ve done nothing wrong! The only reason there’s tax evasion is cos taxes are priced up to my dick!”

“Up to Hyunwoo’s dick when it’s hard.” Changkyun said, and the boys would have laughed had the circumstances been different.

“Minhyuk.” Hyunwoo put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. He leaned to level with Minhyuk’s head, as if to try and look him in the eyes through his fingers. “What are you gonna do?”

A tear dripped between Minhyuk’s finger. Then two. Then, tears formed and connected between his fingers, until there were too many tears to count. After a moment of his crying, which softened every boy’s face and propelled them to inch closer to their friend, Minhyuk wiped his eyes. When he realized he couldn’t speak without covering his face, he buried his eyes into the crook of his elbow. “I wanna find them.” Minhyuk wept. “I’m gonna find them.”

Find them? The idea had been ridiculous. How could they find anything, let alone people, when everything was so lost? Hyunwoo said nothing about Minhyuk’s desires. In his mind, he had already decided he’d refuse to help Minhyuk, if he ever asked for it. There was no way Hyunwoo could find anybody in the midst of so much loss.

Nobody had said anything. Hyungwon held Minhyuk close, and let him cry it out. The other boys blinked in distressed expressions, looking helpless. As the days went by, and Hyunwoo started dropping by again, Minhyuk’s mind seemed to worsen. He was skinny already, but refused to eat anything Kihyun offered. His eyes had become swollen to the point of no return, but he cried anyways- he refused water every couple of days, and the skin on his fingers cracked and broke upon the torture of dehydration. Minhyuk let it happen with ease, and the boys watched on in agony as Minhyuk refused to sleep with them in their bedroom, curled up every single day on the couch.

“You’re gonna get bed sores if you keep staying on the couch.” Hyungwon wept, turning Minhyuk over. Blankly, Minhyuk reached to hold Hyungwon’s hand. “Don’t hold my hand when you won’t even eat!”

This had gone on for around two weeks now, and the boys feared they’d see Minhyuk’s condition drag on into months.

“Airplane!” Haeji had crooned once during those weeks, sat on the side of the couch attempting to feed Minhyuk by hand. “Here comes the airplane! Open wide, Minhyuk!”

Minhyuk had enough energy in him to smile, miraculously. “I’m okay, Haeji. Go give that ramen to Hoseok.”

Everybody tried to get Minhyuk to eat, to take a shower, to drink water, to get up, but everything came with a sweet smile and an ‘I’m okay’. It was typical Minhyuk behavior. 

“He’s the same even on the brink of death.” Hyungwon had snorted one day. 

One night, Jooheon had woken up in the middle of the night. Breathing hard, sweat beaded on his forehead. He couldn’t remember what he was dreaming about. In his haze of empty feeling, Jooheon staggered to his feet, and left his cuddle buddy (Changkyun) to freeze. Toes touching the cold floor, he stepped out into the hallway. Ominously, he wobbled down the hall and slowly opened Haeji’s door. She was asleep, phone in hand and face mask plastered on her face, forgotten from the night before. Jooheon shut the door, and still not entirely awake, he stumbled to their base with wide eyes. He opened the classroom’s door, and blinked at Hyungwon and Minhyuk sleeping on the couch. He made his way to the kitchen, and came back ten minutes later with a bowl and a rag. He sat on the floor, and pushed back Minhyuk’s hair. He soaked the rag, and wiped it across Minhyuk’s dirtied forehead.

He cleaned his face, moved to the edge of the couch to clean in between his fingers, cleaned his neck and his arms, the crook of his elbow and the between his nose and lips. All the while, thoughts kickstarted into Jooheon’s once empty brain; formulas, calculations, a rough idea of what Seoul looked like, a vague map of what Busan looked like, who the Korean leaders were at the moment, and an estimate on how long it would take Minhyuk before he died of malnutrition. Jooheon set his towel back into the bowl, and pressed a kiss onto Minhyuk’s cheek. He got up, and returned with chapstick, and spent minutes absently applying it to his friend’s lips.

“We’ve gotta get out of Seoul.” Changkyun spoke to Kihyun on a cold morning. February came to an end as March slowly began to make it’s arrival apparent, but it would be a long while before the cold mornings came to an end. Changkyun and Kihyun both wondered if it would take long for Minhyuk’s mind to be able to carry him again. 

“Why?” Kihyun asked, holding onto a hot mug of milk with cold hands. 

“The other day I went to get groceries,” Changkyun said, and leaned into the cold concrete. The pair sat outside the school before dawn, watching the dark skies brighten as they waited for the promised sun to accompany them. “And you know what I saw? I saw a bunch of butterflies on my way home. They were so close to the sun, I couldn’t see them too well. But I squinted a little, and those fuckers were blue.”

“What’s the deal with blue butterflies?” Kihyun smiled, taking a sip of his milk. 

“Butterflies are too beautiful to be in Seoul.” Changkyun told Kihyun. “I was okay seeing them back in high school, but not when everything’s like a piece of flaming shit. They’ve gotta get out of here, Kihyun.”

“And we have to get out too?” Kihyun asked. Changkyun nodded. “If all seven of us leave, the butterflies will probably follow us.”

“Do the butterflies like us?” Kihyun leaned on Changkyun. Changkyun put his cheek on his friend’s head, and the tension between his eyebrows softened as the dawn broke. “They love us.”

Kihyun laughed. “You’re like my brother, you know?” He said affectionately, but Changkyun’s attention had been caught by something else. “Like my little brother. My really handsome little brother.”

“Kihyun!” Changkyun interrupted. He pointed to the sky. “Look! There’s smoke!”

Five in the morning, and every one of their friends was outside, barely dressed and staring at the sky. Haeji was present, Minhyuk was absent, as per usual, and Jooheon squinted as though the dim light was hurting him. 

“Is there a fire?” Hyunwoo yawned.

“What could’ve caused fire?” Haeji mumbled, eyes closing as she leaned on her older brother. Hoseok was not responsive to the situation; his head lolled, and he had trouble standing up without falling asleep.

“It’s probably a beach fire or something.” Jooheon muttered. 

“It doesn’t look like it.” Kihyun shook his head. “So much smoke. Hey- Hoseok, wake up!”

Hoseok’s body convulsed upon being prodded by Kihyun. “What?!”

“Look at the smoke! It’s covering half the sky.” Kihyun crossed his arms. Hoseok rubbed his eyes, and craned his neck to look at the smoke. “It’s thick smoke.” Hoseok informed, his voice hoarse from sleep.

And suddenly, the ground shook. Some where in the distance, noise erupted like it was next door- loud and clear, the sound made Kihyun’s eardrums ache. Haeji fell back, and the boys stumbled onto each other upon the tremors. “What the hell?” Hyunwoo’s eyes were wide open now, and everyone looked awake enough to be on caffeine. “That’s a bomb.” Hoseok said, and exchanged shocked glances with Kihyun as he helped his sister to her feet.

“What kind of bomb?” Kihyun asked, and the mathematical geniuses left their positions to gather together. “Nothing massive. If it was too big, we wouldn’t hear it.” Hoseok said, and the pair babbled briefly about the structure of atomic bombs.

“Wait!” Haeji interrupted. “Bombs?! What’s going on?”

“Haeji, you should go inside.” Jooheon told the little sister, rubbing her shoulder. With rounded eyes, Haeji looked to Jooheon with concern. “Then you guys come inside too!”

“Go see if Minhyuk is alright.” Jooheon pet her hair, and kissed her on the head. “The noise might’ve scared him. Go, okay?”  
“Haeji.” Hoseok called. “While you’re there, check my bank account.”

“Why?” Haeji blurted, eyes welling as she looked between Jooheon and her brother. “What’s gonna happen? Hoseok, it’s not really a bomb, is it?”

“Haeji,” Changkyun spoke instead. He moved next to her, and rubbed her arm. “Nothing’s gonna happen to us, okay? We’re not gonna die or anything. Go inside for now, and do what Hoseok’s saying.”

Haeji looked between her brother’s friends for confirmation. They all stared back sympathetically, and Hoseok nodded to his sister. “Go back in. The smoke’s bad for your lungs.” Hoseok told her, and Changkyun tucked Haeji’s hair behind her ears. “Go back inside, beautiful. Tell Hyungwon to get over here too, okay? Can you remember all that?”

Haeji nodded. Looking scared, she hugged Changkyun tightly, and Changkyun rubbed her back soothingly. “Go in.” He ushered, and Haeji ran off. 

“Why’d you send Haeji in?” Changkyun asked Hoseok, face cross. The boys all huddled together now, the stench of smoke scaring them closer together. 

“If that was really a bomb,” Hoseok’s eyebrows were set as he looked at the sky, eyes dark. “Haeji needs to get out of Korea.”

Hoseok left for the airport in the morning. Around midday, he returned with a gloomy face and two plane tickets in his hand. Haeji looked panicked as she saw Hoseok’s sad face, jumping to her feet and standing upright beside the coffee table where she and the boys were eating. 

“Hoseok, what’s in your hand?” Haeji trembled.

“Haeji, you need to listen to me carefully.” Hoseok said, pulling down his face mask.

“I don’t want to listen.” Haeji spewed. “Don’t tell me anything. I’m not gonna listen.”

“Haeji, I’m not joking around.” Hoseok murmured.

“Me neither!” Haeji’s pretty face contorted into a terrified expression, eyebrows knit together as tears glossed her eyes. “I’m not joking either! I’m serious! I won’t listen to anything at all!”

“Haeji.” Changkyun interrupted, who too looked as though his heart had been torn apart, expression mirroring Hoseok’s. He got up and went to Haeji, going to console her. “Haeji, your brother’s gonna tell you something, okay? You really have to listen this time.”  
“Haeji.” Hoseok opened his hand to reveal the plane tickets. “Tomorrow I’m gonna take you to Anyang. We’re gonna see Grandma, and you and her are gonna get on a train to Busan and take the airport to go to the US, alright? There’s lots of people that speak Korean there, and I put all my savings in Grandma’s account, so you guys will be able to buy a house or something nice over there, alright?”

"The US?!” Haeji shrieked. She shoved Changkyun away from her, and stormed to Hoseok. “You’re sending me away?! You can’t pay for me anymore- is that it?!”

“Haeji, stop it.” Hoseok’s voice broke. 

“I can pay for food too! I told you I’m okay going to work with you! You don’t have to keep babying me anymore- I can work, and I can pay, I can help, Hoseok! You don’t have to send me away!” Haeji shouted, tears slipping from her eyes. Her pretty face was red, and even as she screamed, she still couldn’t help looking beautiful. “You can’t send me away!”

“Haeji, I’m not sending you away!” Hoseok’s eyes grew glassy, but Haeji couldn’t see any of what her brother was going through. 

“You can’t send me away!” Haeji screamed, stomping her feet on the floor. “You can’t send me away! I’ll kill you if you do, Hoseok! I’ll just tell the cops you’ve been living here the whole time, that all of you have been trespassing!”

“Haeji stop it!” Hoseok cried.

“I’ll tell them!” Haeji yelled through her tears. “I’ll tell them Minhyuk is hiding here! I’ll tell them Changkyun and Jooheon hack into crazy shit, I’ll tell them Hyunwoo’s mom hasn’t paid taxes since last month, I’ll tell them you killed mom, I’ll tell them everything!”

Hoseok raised his hand and struck her on the cheek. The hit was so surreal, so unimaginable, that it was almost as if it had never happened. The boys grew wide eyed, staring at the staggering Haeji. They didn’t understand what had happened until Haeji held her cheek, weeping. 

“I hate you!” Haeji sobbed. Realizing what he had done, Hoseok gathered her in his arms. Crying too, Hoseok held her close, and Haeji threw his arms around her and wept all the tears she could manage. “I hate you so much!” She cried. 

“You just like to make me cry, don’t you Haeji?” Hoseok wept. “You know I can’t live with myself if you get hurt! You need to get out of Korea, Haeji, before they blow up the whole fucking country!”

“Then you come too!” Haeji pounded on her brother’s shoulders with little fists. “I don’t want you to get hurt either! I’d die too if you die, so you have to come too!”

“I can’t!” Hoseok shouted, digging his fingers into her back. “I gave you all my money! It’s all for you to live and eat and go to school, and have a _good life!_ That’s all I want you to god damn have Haeji, and you just can’t have a good life if you’re stuck here with me! Is that so hard to ask?! Is that really a hard wish?!”

“No it’s not!” Haeji wept this time. She shook her head aggressively, and collapsed into her brother. “It’s not! I’ll have the best life ever if you want me to!”

“Then that’s what you’re fuckin’ gonna do!” Hoseok sniffled. He tried to stop his tears, but started sobbing again. “You’re gonna pack your shit, we’re gonna go to Grandma’s house, and when I go destroy the government and make Jooheon bring back the internet, you’re gonna text me and call me everyday!” 

“You’re really gonna destroy the government?” Haeji wailed.

“I am!” Hoseok promised.

“I’m not even good at English!” Haeji tightened her hold around Hoseok’s neck. 

The next day, Hoseok and Haeji left for Anyang. Changkyun said goodbye to Haeji in tears; “You don’t date any boys! They’re all fucking wolves, you hear me? You can’t date anybody until Jooheon and I bring the internet back! And even then that kid’s gonna face time me every day of the month until he gets my approval!”

“Changkyun!” Haeji wept, and threw her arms around him. “Take care of my brother! I’m only allowing him to date you, so if he tries to get with anybody else, you tell him what I’m saying right now!”

“You be good, okay?” Hyunwoo crouched down to talk with Haeji. He stroked her cheeks with affection, and gave her one of his jackets. “Go to school and make some big dreams, okay? Here, take my jacket. I heard there’s a lot of weirdos in America, so walk around with my jacket in case any weirdos try to talk to you- it’ll look like your boyfriend’s jacket. Be good, Haeji. I’ll talk to you as soon as I can.”

“I love you, Haeji.” Kihyun sighed, and clipped a jeweled hair clip in her hair. “My beautiful girl. Here, you keep this, okay? All of us gave it a kiss, so you just wear it and remember that your brother and all of us are always with you.” 

“Kihyun.” Haeji pouted. “You won’t date anybody while I’m gone, right?”

“I won’t date anybody unless it’s you.” Kihyun promised, and kissed her hands. Changkyun and Hoseok slapped Kihyun in the back of the head.

“Haeji, be safe.” Jooheon pulled her in a hug. “Hyunwoo’s right. America’s full of creeps. Walk around with your friends at night time, and don’t be alone, got it? I’ll hack into your computer and talk to you through morse code, so learn morse code on your way there so we can talk. Just go and don’t worry about us. We’ll all be together again soon, so don’t worry at all and go life your live.”

“I will.” Haeji swore. “I’ll make a lot of friends to walk around with, and we’ll all be safe together.”

“Good.” Jooheon smiled, and kissed her head. “You’re so beautiful, you’ll make friends the moment you walk into class. They’ll even learn Korean for you, Haeji.”

“Haeji.” It came to Hyungwon, who seemed to be the final person to say good bye to. He put Haeji’s face in her hands, and looked all the way down to speak to her. “Hoseok’s not kidding. We’re gonna destroy the government and get the internet back, and we’re gonna talk to each other every day and every night, okay? We’re always with you, Haeji. Here, I’ve got this picture of all of us.”

He opened Haeji’s hands, and pressed a polaroid picture into her palm. She looked at it, and grew affectionate at the sight of her sleeping on the couch with Kihyun as her brother and his friends took a selfie around them. She jumped to give Hyungwon a hug, and Hyungwon picked her up. “Be happy over there, Haeji. No matter what you do, just be happy.”

Haeji went to say her final goodbye, caring little for the fact that Minhyuk had not gotten up to bid her goodbye.

“Get well, Minhyuk.” Haeji whispered. Minhyuk’s crusted eyes opened to slits, and he looked startled at the sight of Haeji’s saddened face.

“Haeji?” He moaned, and struggled to sit up. “What’s wrong?”

“Lay back down!” Haeji assured, pushing Minhyuk’s chest back. “I’ve gotta go. But everybody says I’ll be back soon, so just rest up and don’t worry about me, okay?”

“Where are you going?” Minhyuk asked, looking lost.   
“To the United States.” Haeji grinned. “Should I bring you Jason Derulo’s autograph?”

“Haeji,” Minhyuk frowned. “Haeji, what’s going on? Are you seriously going to the states?”

Haeji nodded. “But I’ll call you as soon as the internet is back!” She hugged the confused Minhyuk, and weakly, he hugged her back.

“I’ve got no idea what’s going on.” Minhyuk mumbled. “But I love you, Haeji. I don’t know if I’m hallucinating you, but you be safe.” His arms weakened around Haeji’s neck. Exhausted, he fell back into the couch, chest heaving. He studied Haeji’s sad smile and happy eyes, and for a moment, he understood this would be the last time he’d see Haeji in a long time. With whatever strength he had left, he reached up and pressed a kiss to her head.

“See you later, Minhyuk.” Haeji whispered, and Minhyuk closed his eyes before he could see the tears forming in Haeji’s. 

Hoseok was meant to be gone for three or two days. While he left, the boys stayed together and waited for their friend; Hyunwoo retreated home for the most time, and Minhyuk started sitting up on the couch after a day passed. Hyungwon hovered around him, shoving spoonfuls of chicken soup in his mouth and forcing water down his mouth, determined on nursing him back to health. 

Although it seemed like some aspects of life were getting better, seeing how Minhyuk was recovering and Haeji would be safe, there were still some parts of life that seemed lost. On the third day of Hoseok’s absence, Kihyun woke up with a fierce ringing in his ears. For minutes, he was unable to hear, and found that Changkyun and Jooheon couldn’t either. 

They stepped out of the classroom, only to plaster their faces against the window and watch as black smoke fogged the city, blanketing any view beyond the street. 

“Hoseok,” Kihyun muttered. “I wish we could call him. He won’t get home safe.”

Changkyun and Jooheon, whose ears were ringing, did not hear him. “Good thing we’re on the other side of Seoul.” Changkyun shouted, but his face was the opposite of his voice.

“What?” Jooheon called back.

“Where is that smoke coming from?” Came a voice, piercing through the strain of their ears. They turned to see Hyunwoo, whose eyes were wide with fear. “It looks way closer than last time.”

“Should we go check?” Changkyun said, still speaking loudly. He cupped his hands over his ear, face scrunching at the sharp pain of the fatal oises.

“Go check?” Kihyun echoed. Then, equally as loud, he said; “Let’s wait inside for the next couple of days. The smoke is too heavy outside.”

Hoseok didn’t return on the fourth day. Hyunwoo gave up trying to wait for the smoke to clear; he put on a face mask and jacket and told his friends he’d go check on his family and be back whenever. Meanwhile, Jooheon hunched over Haeji’s desk, stuck in her room for the past couple of days. Changkyun opened the door to check up on him a couple times per day, and Jooheon would diligently scribble away at a couple hoards of paper and ignore Changkyun completely. Also in the meanwhile, Minhyuk seemed to get better. 

In the afternoon, Hyungwon had given his lover a kiss and gone out to the gym to take a shower with Kihyun, leaving Changkyun, who was napping on the couch with Minhyuk, and Jooheon, who was still in Haeji’s room, responsible for the classrooms. Changkyun was sleeping deeply beside Minhyuk- for the past few nights, he’d stayed up scratching at his thumb, thinking about whether Hoseok and Haeji were safe, and thinking of every possible terrible fate Hoseok could have met trying to get back home, and through some miracle, sleeping with Minhyuk seemed to ease his mind. Minhyuk smelled a bit, and Changkyun was compelled to pick him up and hit the showers, but he fell asleep before he could do so. 

Now, as the little daylight they got broke into the classroom, Changkyun’s eyes cracked open. They were still sticky with sleep, but the sudden intrusion of light and the movement next to him were different enough to wake him up. 

“Minhyuk?” Changkyun rasped, unsure if the sight of Minhyuk sitting up was real or not. As Changkyun’s vision blurred back into focus, he could see Minhyuk’s long eyelashes bat slowly, eyes moving as he studied their classroom. 

Minhyuk turned upon being called. He looked awful. His face was skinnier than ever, his lips were pale and destroyed with flaking skin and red, irritated corners of his mouth, his eyes seemed sunken and the puppy-like feature of his face was missing due to the drastic differences. But when he smiled, Changkyun forgot about how terrible his friend looked. It had been a while since Changkyun saw Minhyuk smile. 

“I want to take a shower.” Minhyuk whispered to Changkyun, voice hoarse from being silent for days. 

Changkyun’s heart almost stopped. Minhyuk was talking now too! He sat up, and with his hair sticking up and drool plastered on his cheek, he blinked in shock at Minhyuk. “Minhyuk? Is that… You’re seriously awake?”

Minhyuk nodded. He scrunched his nose, but the gesture didn’t last for long. “I smell. How did Hyungwon survive sleeping with me?”

“I don’t know.” Changkyun frowned, heart breaking at the sight of Minhyuk’s ill-looking face. “You asshole! You got everybody so worried! Jesus Christ, Hyungwon would just stand around and cry because you wouldn’t drink any water! You- you stupid, little bastard, little dumb… You really know how to make everybody worry!”

Minhyuk laughed, and for a moment, it seemed all the energy in him had been drained from the excessive conversation. He laid back down, and let out a shaky breath. Changkyun fell silent, and though he was still cross, laid his head on Minhyuk’s pillow. 

“I haven’t even brushed my teeth.” Minhyuk told Changkyun. By this point, Changkyun was straining to hear his friend. 

“Should I carry you to the gym?” Changkyun offered. 

“Where's Hoseok?” Minhyuk asked, and Changkyun remembered Minhyuk had been left out of the events of the prior days. 

“In Anyang, or maybe Busan.” Changkyun told his friend. He leaned his head against Minhyuk’s. “He’s taking his grandma and Haeji to the airport up there. He’s sending them to America.”

“I remember.” Minhyuk nodded so faintly it seemed like he didn’t nod at all. “I… Did I miss… a lot?”

Changkyun nodded. He wrapped his arms around Minhyuk, and kissed his head, mirroring the countless amounts of affection Minhyuk liked to give him. “So much, Minhyuk. Kihyun and Hoseok think Seoul’s being bombed.”

“Bombed?” Minhyuk coughed, eyelids reeling in surprise. Changkyun pushed him back into the couch, rubbing his chest soothingly. “Seriously?”

“Yeah. We’ve got no access to the internet or anything, so it’s definitely hard to say. But when it first happened, it sounded exactly like a bomb. When it happened the second time, the smoke was so thick Kihyun told us not to go outside. We even woke up with our ears ringing.” Changkyun recounted the events of the week to the slightly responsive Minuyuk.

“God damn,” Minhyuk wheezed. “God damn.”

“Are you feeling better?” Changkyun asked. It was a bit of a dumb question.

“I’m okay.” Minhyuk assured, and nestled his head against Changkyun’s. “I’m always okay.” 

If Changkyun had seen the sad look in Minhyuk’s eyes, he too surely would have bombed Seoul himself. Before any conversation could be carried out further, the classroom door opened. Changkyun looked up, and saw Hyungwon’s damp hair framing his face, wiping his cheek with a towel. Kihyun followed behind him, pulling his shirt on. 

“Who came in?” Minhyuk asked Changkyun. 

“Minhyuk?” Hyungwon’s head shot up, staring at his boyfriend. “Is he awake?”

“Yeah.” Minhyuk said weakly. Hyungwon threw his towel aside, and fell to his knees beside the couch. Kihyun sat on the couch, rubbing Minyhuk’s leg. 

“Minhyuk.” Hyungwon smiled. “You’re awake.”

Minhyuk outstretched his arms, and Hyungwon gladly fell into them. He wrapped his arms around Minhyuk, and kissed him wherever he could. “Are you okay? Are you hungry?”

Minhyuk nodded a bit. “I smell so bad.” He laughed, and Hyungwon laughed too. “I wanna take a shower.”

“You wanna take a shower?” Hyungwon pulled away, and took Minhyuk’s face in his hands. When Minhyuk blinked his response, Hyungwon understood and hooked an arm beneath Minhyuk’s. “Let’s go. I’ll help you take a shower.”

Changkyun held Minhyuk’s back in support, until he was able to stand up with Hyungwon’s help. 

“I’ll go make him some soup.” Kihyun said. “Changkyun, come help me?”

In the kitchen, Changkyun juggled ingredients as Kihyun started a pot of water to boil. “It’s just chicken soup!” Kihyun scowled. “Why is it taking you forever to get me some chicken?”

“You told me to get like fifteen things of fucking seasoning!” Changkyun’s nostrils flared. 

“So where is the chicken?” Kihyun narrowed his eyes. “Nevermind. Just watch the pot while I cut it up.”

“You told me to cut it though!” Changkyun protested, and let his bottles of seasoning fall onto the counter.   
“Be careful with the seasoning.” Kihyun scolded. He reached into a drawer and pulled out a knife, setting his chicken down on the counter top as he did. “Changkyun, does Jooheon want to eat?”

“I left some food in the morning and the plate was empty when I came back.” Changkyun propped himself on the counter, watching Kihyun cook. “He’s okay. He’s just working on something.”

“What’s he working on so hard?” Kihyun pondered as he let his knife cut into the tender flesh of the chicken. 

“I wish I knew.” Changkyun told his friend. 

“Get down from there and help me. Go cut up celery. Hoseok’s always bragging about how you cook for him and Haeji, and here you are with no idea how to make chicken soup!” Kihyun snapped, and Changkyun rolled his eyes. “I’m going! Jeez…”

Minhyuk ate half a bowl of Kihyun’s soup and drank two cups of water, as demanded by Hyungwon and Changkyun. Kihyun told them all to stop pressuring him, but insisted that Minhyuk ate more soup anyways. 

“He smells so good, my baby.” Hyungwon crooned, kissing Minhyuk’s cheek. Hyungwon had wrapped a blanket around him once they sat down, and dressed Minhyuk in the warmest clothes possible. “My baby…”

“Is he sick?” Kihyun asked. “I know you were refusing to do anything because of what happened, but it could’ve gotten you really sick. This school’s not too clean.”

Hyungwon pressed a hand to Minhyuk’s forehead, then felt if the nodes on his throat were swelling. “I don’t think so.” He told Kihyun. “Just a little tired. Right, baby?”

Minhyuk nodded, and Hyungwon gave him a kiss. Changkyun looked out the window, wondering when Hoseok would return.

In the night, the boys retired to their bedroom. Kihyun brought Minhyuk and Hyungwon’s pillow from the couch, and Changkyun removed the bed sheets being used to cover the couch. They settled down after trying to call Jooheon to come sleep too, which was done in vain, as Jooheon was interested only in his papers. Kihyun and Minhyuk fell asleep quickly, leaving Hyungwon and Changkyun awake. 

“When do you think Hoseok’s coming back?” Changkyun whispered.  
“Whenever he can.” Hyungwon hummed, petting Minhyuk’s hair. “He’s safe, Changkyun. Probably having a tough time getting out of Busan.”

“You think he’s really safe?” Changkyun frowned.

“I think he’s super safe.” Hyungwon promised. Silence passed, and both boys found they couldn’t sleep. After those elongated moments of quiet, Hyungwon spoke again.

“Are you sleeping?” Hyungwon asked.

“No.” Changkyun said. 

“Changkyun,” Hyungwon hesitated before saying his next words. “Should we get out of Seoul?”

“Get out of Seoul?” Changkyun repeated. “And go where?”

“Anywhere.” Hyungwon sighed. “Gwangju. Daegu. Anywhere’s got to be better than Seoul. I bet there’s no bombings in Gwangju.”

“How do we get there?” Changkyun murmured, closing his eyes.

“I know we usually don’t think of the future. I know we turn a blind eye to this kind of stuff.” Hyungwon mused, as though he didn’t hear Changkyun’s question. “I do too. All the time, I do. But sometimes, I just catch myself wondering if Minhyuk and I are gonna get jailed, or found out, or… Or we’ll get found out living here, or our robberies are gonna come bite us in the ass. I know our future’s been lost since we were kids, and that’s why we don’t think about it, but these days, I’m starting to pray for a better life.”

Hyungwon’s deep voice and slow words lulled Changkyun into sleep. He came in and out of consciousness as Hyungwon went on, until he was officially asleep. 

_”Changkyun.”_

Changkyun moaned. He rolled onto his side, sleep disturbed by somebody shaking his leg. 

_”Changkyun, wake up.”_

Somebody was pulling him up. He felt his head lolling in the air, shoulders being lifted by big arms. “Changkyun, I’m home.”

Changkyun’s eyes opened. Through a blurry vision, he saw somebody who looked like Hoseok. He couldn’t say for sure, since a hat was obscuring his face, but the pointed ears sticking out gave it away. Changkyun rubbed his eyes, and grinned at the clear sight of Hoseok’s gentle face. 

“Hoseok!” He grinned, and wrapped his arms around Hoseok’s neck. Hoseok hugged him back, holding him close. “What took you so long?”

“They blocked entrance from Seoul a couple days after I went to Busan.” Hoseok whispered into Changkyun’s neck. “I couldn’t get in.”

“How was Anyang? And Busan?” Changkyun murmured, still not ready to let go of Hoseok.

“Anyang’s in bad shape too. Not so different from Seoul. Busan was pretty, nothing like Anyang and Seoul. All the streets are built nice, they’ve got proper water running, everything they’re taking away from the rest of Korea.” Hoseok told him. Beneath Changkyun, Hoseok’s legs moved to sit more comfortably, and one of his big hands moved to hoist Changkyun’s legs up his lap. “And guess what? They’ve got the internet running in Busan.”

“Seriously?” Changkyun hissed. “Fucking bastards! A bunch of government officials are living there, huh?”

“All of them are living there.” Hoseok nodded. “That’s why the rest of Korea’s being neglected. The airport lady told me it was illegal to give out any information on the government, and even talking suspiciously about them could get us a fine!”

“How’s Haeji? And your grandma? Did they get there safe?” Changkyun went on.

“Haeji was smiling the whole time. I think she wanted to let me know she’d be okay. My grandma was pretty happy to be getting out of Korea, but she was crying so much when I said bye to them.” Hoseok told Changkyun. “It was nice. They landed in America, and I got to facetime Haeji for a little bit.”

“How did you get back to Seoul?” Changkyun asked.

“There’s trains running from Busan to Anyang, so I took a train that way and walked into Seoul the rest of the way. It’s why it took so long.” Hoseok took a break from talking to press a kiss into Changkyun’s neck. “But they’re shutting down subways. The connections from Seoul to Busan were cut off, and there were no connections to Gwangju, Illsan, no where.”

“So you snuck into Seoul?” Changkyun gasped quietly.

“I just crossed in.” Hoseok shrugged. “There’s no cops guarding the rich people entrances or exits, so I came in through Gangnam.”

“You walked all the way here from Anyang? Through all the smoke?” Changkyun wrapped his arms tighter around Hoseok’s neck. “I would’ve got Hyunwoo’s car and got you.”

“Too bad we can’t call each other.” Hoseok smiled into Changkyun’s neck. “Hey, I’m gonna go take a shower. It’s early, so go back to sleep, yeah?”

Changkyun shook his head rapidly. He held onto Hoseok. “Don’t go yet.”

Quiet footsteps echoed into the bedroom. Hoseok and Changkyun turned their heads, and pulled away upon sight of Jooheon’s shadowed outline. Changkyun couldn’t see him well in the darkness, but he could easily tell Jooheon’s little eyes looked exhausted.

“Hoseok!” Jooheon sounded relieved. Hoseok gave Changkyun a fast kiss, and broke away from him to greet Jooheon. But Hoseok didn’t have to move much, as Jooheon was fast to cling onto Hoseok. The two were on the floor again, and were giving each other as many kisses as they could.

“I love you!” Jooheon crooned.

“You smell so gross.” Hoseok giggled, and the two pushed and shoved at each other. Suddenly, Jooheon noticed Changkyun was there. He stopped his playing, and scrambled towards Changkyun.

“Changkyun,” Jooheon rasped. He searched the pockets of his jacket, and Changkyun thought he looked insane. “Changkyun, I’ve been making- I was thinking, about Minhyuk this whole week. I felt so bad after seeing him look so sick, that I-, Changkyun, I wanna help him find his family.”

Jooheon handed two pieces of folded paper. Carefully, Changkyun opened them. 

In the dim light of early morning, Changkyun could barely make out the scribbles and miniaturely drawn maps of Busan. Hands trembling, he looked to Jooheon in horror. “How the fuck did you get all this information?” Changkyun’s voice broke.

“I’ve got a friend from Busan.” Jooheon muttered. “He used to have all these conspiracy theories about the government. He mapped out Busan and where he thought all the government bases were, and he sent me a file full of all of his maps and theories to see if I agreed with anything. I ignored him when he sent this shit to me, but it’s fucking lucky I saved that file.”

“All of this… Is your plan?” Hoseok leaned over Changkyun’s shoulder, eyes hardening at the sight of Jooheon’s papers. “Jooheon, this is some crazy shit dude.”

“It’s some crazy fucking shit,” Jooheon agreed. “But it’s some crazy shit I think will work.”

Six in the morning, and Hyungwon woke up feeling ill. Sweating, his body felt weak. As he sat up, fighting the urge to puke, he glanced around the room. He smiled at the sight of Minhyuk sleeping peacefully, and pulled the blanket over Kihyun. Changkyun was missing, and the door was wide open. Feeling curious between the ocean of ill emotion in his body, he tried to stand up, but his legs felt weak. 

Again, he felt nauseous. His head spun, and he held his mouth in a last attempt to not vomit. He burped when his puke-attempt failed, and leaned against the doorway of the bedroom. Something felt seriously off. Hyungwon checked his head, and checked his throat, but it seemed there were no signs of anything. Feeling like he had to puke again, he stumbled into the hallway, curled into himself. He covered his mouth to cough, and when he pulled his hands away, he saw red spattered on his skin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOSEOK IS BACK YOU MAOTHER FECKERS....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ALL OF YOU BETTER BE KISSING YOUR WONHO PICS BEFORE BED IN THE MORNING IN THE MIDDLE OF NIGHT EVERY SINGLE DAY COUNT UR LUCKY STARS HE IS BACK AND GO SUPPORT HIS NAVER ARTICLE AND TWEET FOR HIS REINSTATEMENT IN MONSTA X


End file.
